Side by side all our lives
Born two doors apart and married 62 years
A COUPLE who were born two doors apart and played together as kids are still going strong after 62 years of marriage.
Brian and Margaret Main, both 84, would be taken out together in their prams – and treasure a photograph of their outings.
Brian moved away aged 11 but when he returned he fell in love with Margaret and the couple got together before tying the knot and having three children.
Margaret said: “As children we lived two doors apart.
“My sister would look after me and a childminder looked after Brian. They’d put us in the pram together and take us out for walks.
“We played together as kids. I was a tomboy and loved climbing trees. Brian remembers one day I couldn’t get down and other kids had to get our parents to help us down.”
The pair lost touch after Brian’s family moved away from the village of Cefn Fforest in South Wales because of his dad’s job as a colliery manager. But Brian said: “When I was 18 I moved back and when I saw Margaret she was all grown up and so lovely.
“I asked her out and the rest is history. We started courting and became inseparable. I had a motorcycle but Margaret refused to get on it so I bought a three-wheel car. We’d go everywhere together in that little car.”
After three years, they married at 21 in March 1962. Margaret made her own wedding gown and the bridesmaids’ dresses.
Brian said: “We didn’t have a lot of money. We borrowed £40 for our honeymoon to London.
“We booked into the Strand Hotel and left after four days because it was so expensive.”
Margaret studied art and became a dress designer for children’s toy company, Chilton.
Brian worked in the collieries before getting a job as a traffic warden. He retired in 2003.
The pair built a house in nearby Blackwood where they raised their children, Debbie, 60, Hayley, 57 and Bryan, 55.
Brian and Margaret, who went on their first foreign holiday 2010, to Lanzarote, said laughter is key to their happy marriage. Brian added: “I’m a bit of a joker, I asked her if she’d like a maternity ring. She said. ‘It’s an eternity ring.’
“She’s absolutely lovely and I’d marry her all over again. She really is my best friend.”
She’s lovely and I’d marry her again. She really is my best friend
BRIAN MAIN ON 62-YEAR MARRIAGE TO MARGARET