Landmark love Terry shares memories of his ‘wonderful’ wife
AWIDOWER in Australia has shared heartfelt memories of how he met his late wife at a Bristol landmark.
Terence ‘Terry’ Whitchurch is planning to revisit Cabot Tower in the next couple of years to “commemorate 67 years of knowing the most caring, beautiful woman in my life and world”.
The 86-year-old shared his story for the world to see on a Google Review of the tower several weeks ago, and has since spoken to the Post about his “dear wife” Val, who died of breast cancer in 2019.
He described himself as a “born and bred Bristolian” who grew up on Victoria Place in Bedminster.
He met his future wife Valerie Neale on July 26, 1955, at Brandon Hill in Bristol.
Terry was 18, then working as an apprentice fitter and turner at Beasley French in Hartcliffe, and Val was 16.
He had been expecting to go on a double blind date with his friend Dave, but one of the girls was sick and the other failed to make an impression, so the two young men ended up on a bench, date-less.
It was then that Val and her best friend Shirley walked past and caught the attention of the pair of Teddy boys, and they struck up a conversation.
Terry said: “Boy, I didn’t realise then what was to come, love her.
“We paired off – Dave with Shirley, me with Val. Just below the tower there’s the site of the old drinking fountain, secluded then – that’s where I first kissed her.”
They arranged another double date but when Dave backed out, Terry admitted he also “chickened out” and didn’t show up because he was too shy.
He said a week or two later he ran into Val by chance at the Star pub, near Ashton Gate, and found the courage to speak to her again.
“Her first words were ‘you stood me up’ – she turned away and headed for good-looking
Dave, who already had the girls chatting to him,” Terry recalled.
He managed to win her over and they paired off to the park together. Terry added: “I smoked then and had my Dad’s lighter.
“When I took her home, she grabbed the lighter and said, ‘Just to make sure you turn up next time.’
“I did, again and again. The rest is history.”
Terry’s apprenticeship meant his National Service was deferred for two years, so it was November 1957 when he had to report for duty.
They married in May 1958 before he was posted overseas, serving during the EOKA crisis in Cyprus.
Terry, who now lives in New South Wales, said: “I was in the Royal Engineers, 34th Independent Field Squadron.
“After being involved in active service, we were attacked by terrorists in the Troodos mountains. We were shipped to Kenya, where the Mau Mau were stirring things up.
“Not long after, in early 1959, I was off to Aden to clear mines laid by local insurgents. Then
(She was) the most wonderful girl, woman, wife, mother, and my best friend, ever. I’ve never recovered from her passing but feel she’s with me
Terry Whitchurch
Bahrain, back to Kenya and finally home July 1959.”
It was only then that he first met his daughter Michele, who was seven months old by then. He and Val went on to have their son Steven in 1962.
Val’s mother died in a car crash in 1965. A few years later, Terry, then working as a design engineer, said things “went pear-shaped workwise” and they applied to emigrate to Australia.
They moved to Sydney in 1981, but returned to Bristol for trips in 1997, 2005 and 2015.
It was in 2019 that Terry last returned to his home city, to scatter Val’s ashes at Cabot Tower and revisit the bench – no longer there – where he first saw his true love.
He had hoped to return to Britain last year but the travel restrictions caused by coronavirus pandemic
led him to push the trip back to 2023.
Terry shared an appeal via the Post in 1997 to find any friends or relatives who might still be around from his Bristol days, and had a good response, but he is still keen to track down his friend Dave, who was with him when he met Val.
Terry said he was now writing a book about “my life with the most wonderful girl, woman, wife, mother, and my best friend, ever”. He hopes to pass it on to their children and grandchildren so they can remember “the story of Nan and Pops for later generations”.
He added: “I’ve never recovered from her passing but feel she’s with me in this unit.
“I’m going home [to Bristol] again in 2023 to reminisce and see friends, family and all our old haunts. Especially Cabot Tower.”