Burghead couple Janet and Padraig Glendinning’s diamond wedding anniversary celebrations were reminiscent of the night that brought them together.
Stepping away from a kitchen full of guests, Mrs Glendinning remembered attending a party while studying at Trinity College in Dublin.
“Desperately lonely”, she spotted her future husband soon after arriving.
“I was a bit nervous,” she said.
“I was fiddling with a chain I had around my neck, I liked the look of him enormously and I broke the chain.”
Mr Glendinning immediately offered to take the chain to be repaired, secretly knowing that if he did so, he would need to see his future wife again to return it to her.
‘I’ve never had so many hugs’
Mr and Mrs Glendinning have lived in Burghead for 35 years, surrounded by friends in the community who helped them celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary.
They received a card from the Queen and Joan Cowe, deputy lieutenant of Moray, paid them a visit.
Food and friends started arriving at 10am and the party was still going well past 5pm.
Mrs Glendinning, wearing green as a nod to the night they met, said: “The house was flooded with people, it was just so lovely. We’ve been partying ever since and going non-stop. It’s been such fun, I’ve never had so many hugs.”
On March 17, 1962, the pair married in the Church of St Mary in Warwick after persuading Mrs Glendinning’s uncle to perform the ceremony during lent.
Though he didn’t allow flowers or music at the service itself, the rest of the day was a grand event.
Mrs Glendinning said: “My grandfather left each of his grandchildren £200. I decided with it I’d have a really good wedding and I spent every penny.”
They drank champagne, ate smoked salmon sandwiches, had 50 round a table for lunch and, to add a hint of drama, were shocked as an uncle appeared with a rifle. The men finished the day watching the rugby as the sun shone.
The secret to a happy marriage
When asked about the highlights of their long marriage, Mrs Glendinning found it hard to narrow them down.
“The best time was when we had no money and were just starting off, then we had three children and I was at home with them, it was magic,” she said.
“That was my dream, it’s been the best time that’s spread over a long time, but that’s it.”
She explained that both she and her husband had rough childhoods, and that through their marriage they managed to right many wrongs that had come before.
“At this stage now we’ve got through a lot of bad times and we’re in a wonderful patch due to that ploughing through together, we managed to right the wrongs,” she said.
Mr and Mrs Glendinning are spending the weekend celebrating in Kent with their three children, John, Mark and Ann, their seven grandchildren, and all the partners that now come along with them.
After 60 years, Mrs Glendinning shared the key to a happy, long-lasting marriage.
“If you can build on that foundation when everything’s tough and you’ve got no money, if you can get through that together then it’s lovely, that’s why I’ve had such a happy life,” she said.
“Although there have been ups and downs, everything I hoped we could do together, we have.”
