My wedding day - Tuesday 9th March 1982

( Uploaded 33 years later on 9th March 2015.)

Douglas' divorce came through on the previous Friday so he had 4 days as a single man before he got married again.  We had made all the arrangements and hoped the divorce papers would come through in time .

As I got ready on the morning of my wedding THIS SONG was playing on the radio.  Just one of my memories of the day.  We lived in Swalwell at the time so we just got the bus to Gateshead where the registry office was.  Just a small wedding.  At the registry office were my Dad, my 2 brothers, my sister in law and the best man - a colleague of ours from the office.  I had booked a photographer to take some photos.

We had a lady registrar and the ceremony was lovely.  Afterwards some photos were taken on the lawn outside and then our little group walked across the Tyne Bridge to Newcastle for our " reception " at The Newcastle Arms pub. It was a traumatic walk for the best man as he had vertigo so he had to walk as far away from the edge of the bridge as possible so he couldn't look down.  He was almost on the road with the traffic. 

The Newcastle Arms was nestled under The Tyne Bridge and was a pub which Douglas and I went to regularly.  Without us asking they had closed off one of the rooms to the general public so we could have a private party.  The barmaid had also brought us a cake.  This was a surprise as we hadn't even thought about having a cake.  We had invited all our friends from the office and they were all at the pub when we arrived.  The afternoon seemed to pass in a blur but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  There was a pool table and I remember my Dad having a few games with some of the girls from the office. ( reading this back it certainly sounds as though he had a different kind of fun ) 

One person who I wished could have been there was my Mam but unfortunately she had died the year before.  

After the celebrations came to a close Douglas and I just got the bus home.  And we went to work the next day.  Then on the Thursday we went to Edinburgh for a few days. I enjoyed it but I started feeling sickly.  I had a feeling it was morning sickness so when I got back home I saw the doctor who confirmed I was pregnant. Coincidentally my sister in law was also pregnant at the time.  Her daughter Sharon was born in June and my daughter Becky was born in October.

I enjoyed 19 happy years of marriage before Douglas passed away in September 2001.

My blip shot shows myself and Douglas - obviously  - and my brother John and sister in law Virginia.  We all look so young.