DOWN MEMORY LANE
Golden and diamond wedding anniversaries are a staple of regional newspapers. The cut-off point is at 50 years, and many whose marriages have survived half a century, seem a bit shy about sharing and it is a rare ruby wedding that makes it into print. Couples at Sunday’s 150th anniversary of Lorne Street church whose marriage years were below the magic 50 seemed happy to share a few memories. Fiona (née Short) and Alasdair McPhee, feature on page 13 and have been married 42 years. Mr McPhee remembered it being slightly different times in the mid-1970s when he asked Fiona’s father for her hand in marriage. Mrs McPhee said: ‘I was home on holiday from nursing in the Channel Islands when we met and the rest is history.’ Roselyn (née Farmer) and Calum Maclean were taken back to their wedding day on July 20 1973, when Calum’s golfing pals formed an arch with clubs on the steps of Lorne Street church. Mr MacLean joked that marriage had been good for his golf. He said: ‘In 1971 I won the championship at Machrihanish but 11 years later, after being married nearly a decade, I won the county championship.’ Mrs MacLean said: ‘Forty-five years I have had him and I would not swap him.’ Many other snippets feature in the exhibition including this extract from a meeting of the Lorne Street church conveners, on December 1 1970, which details of some of the events to come in 1971: Coffee Morning: To be held in the town hall on a Saturday in January; if at all possible the 30th. The clerk was instructed to write to the Town Chamberlain on this point and to book the upper hall and kitchen from 9am to 1pm. A charge of two shillings (10 pence) per person was suggested and approved. Tea was clearly more expensive as the extract below shows: Afternoon tea: Mrs W Jones suggested that an afternoon tea should be held in the church hall, the date to be fixed in relation to that secured for the coffee morning. This was approved as was a charge of three shillings (15 pence) per person. Mr Donald Shaw intimated that he was hopeful of having a ‘Men’s Night Entertainment’ on Wednesday February 17 and if it was considered practicable could be carried into a second performance on February 18, the ladies being asked to provide the teas or other suitable refreshments. The clerk was instructed to obtain the Deacon’s Court permission for the use of the hall.