An Aberdeen couple who are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary have revealed their secret to a long-lasting marriage.
Alexander and Ruth Keith, who live in the Hilton area of the city, tied the knot on June 20, 1964 at Belmont Church at the tender age of just 21.
The pair held their reception at the Bon Accord Hotel on Market Street, which today is the Rox Hotel.
Because their wedding was during the typhoid outbreak in the city many people sadly could not come, including Mr Keith’s best man who was living in London.
Their wedding photo, taken by The Press and Journal’s Charlie Flett, was put up in the window at the newspaper’s then Broad Street headquarters.
Teen walked across Aberdeen to walk love interest home
The pair met while ballroom dancing on a Saturday night at the George Bennett Mitchell Hall on Skene Terrace.
Mr Keith was there with “four of five mates”, while his wife – both were aged 17 at the time – was with two of hers.
“Two or three weeks later I walked Ruth home,” he said, adding: “I didn’t realise how far it was, as she stayed in Torry and I stayed in Northfield.
“I had no idea of busses, but I was quite fit at that time.
“When I met Ruth the second time, I said, ‘I’m not seeing you home again unless I can catch a bus’, and sure enough, we caught the bus.”
The pair met when Mr Keith was studying to be a draughtsman at Henderson’s, in which he would go to evening classes four nights a week.
After passing his classes and working at Henderson’s for two and a half years on the shop floor, he got invited to the drawing office and became a design draughtsman.
Despite there being “no chance of getting a house in those days”, they were offered a flat in Rosemount by Mr Keith’s employers.
“By that time I was pregnant and I said to Alex, ‘bouncing a pram up and down that stairs – you’re not on’.”
After looking into emigrating to either Australia or Canada, Mr Keith was offered a job with Atomic Energy at Culcheth Laboratories in Warrington.
Here, he would work for the government-run metallurgical and nuclear research institute and the couple managed to get a “lovely” house from the council in what he described as being a “typical English village”.
The Keith’s became parents when daughter Yvonne, who is now 58, was born.
And it was during their time in north-west England that son Sandy, now aged 55, arrived into the world.
After a spell living in Fife, the couple relocated back to the north-east where they lived in both Ellon and Peterhead.
During their time in Aberdeenshire, Mrs Keith worked in a shop and as a community worker in the Blue Toon.
With Sandy and Yvonne all grown up, the pair decided to swap the north-east for the Middle East, as Mr Keith got a job in Saudi Arabia as a quality assurance consultant.
The Keith’s “loved” coming back to the Granite City though and they returned permanently, where Mrs Keith started working at House of Fraser on the city’s Union Street.
Both are now retired and the couple – who used to play golf – have many hobbies, including playing bridge, dancing and going on cruises, which they try to do “at least twice a year”.
A cruise to the Greek islands is booked for September.
‘You’ve got to give and take, nobody should be right and wrong’
So what is their recipe for a long and happy marriage?
“You’ve got to give and take, nobody should be right and wrong. If there’s any problem, discuss it,” said Mr Keith.
“We used to say ‘never go to bed still angry’, make sure you’re clear before you go to bed.”
His wife added: “I think the biggest thing is listening to each other, not just talking, but listening.
“We’re both very positive people.”
Conversation