Golden couple go back to where it all began

The bill came to a grand total of £35 and the 49 guests at Kathleen and Eric Denny’s wedding enjoyed a slap up meal and nine bottles of sherry between them.

This was in 1965 and now 50 years on friends and family will once again gather at the West Park Hotel in Harrogate to celebrate, though the bill will be slightly higher this time round.

The couple from Starbeck first met in 1962 at a dance at the Royal Hall.

Kathleen, 71, said that Eric impressed her at the dance as she went home with him, despite being invited to the Royal Hall by another suitor.

Eric, 74 said: “I was on my best behaviour, I wanted to impress her,” Kathleen added: “He has not been on such good behaviour since.”

The couple were engaged for two and a half years before they wed at St Robert’s Church on a sunny spring day.

“Things were simpler then for weddings, much less of a fuss than some of the weddings people have nowadays, which are lovely dos,” said Kathleen.

She said: “There were no night receptions, just a meal then all the guests went home and we went off on our honeymoon to Blackpool.”

The couple, who have three children, have always lived in Harrogate and remarked on how much it had changed over the 50 years as the population has grown.

Eric said: “Well there certainly wasn’t this much traffic back then.”

Kathleen said: “It used to be that whenever you popped into town you met at least one person you knew, now the population has grown so much. It has always been a lovely place to live.”

Eric, who worked for British Gas all of his career said: “It is such a cosmopolitan place now, but you can be out in the countryside easily which is something we like.”

And the secret to a long and happy marriage?

“We were actually laughing about this question last night,” said Eric.

“We’ve got the same sense of humour and we laugh together, that might be it,” added Kathleen.