Couple hit right note after meeting on music course

A NORTH East music venue inadvertently played Cupid, when a couple found more than a love off Rock ‘n’ Roll on one of its musicc courses.

Alf Hodgson, 62, and Irene Man- tey, 67, met at Rock ‘n’ Roll Band, part of Sage Gateshead’s Silverr Programme, 18 months ago.

Alf, who joined the programmee after taking redundancy in 2011, describes himself as “a bedroomm guitar player for 40 years” and wass keen to play more. Irene joined thee group to sing, a pastime she hass enjoyed since childhood.

The pair became friends at the Silver Programme Christmas party, and following an evening of dancing at a Sage Gateshead fundraiser, Alf plucked up the courage to ask Irene for a coffee. They had their first date, and love quickly blossomed.

They still play together regularly as part of the Rock ‘n’ Roll band.

Alf said: “We’d gone to a fundraiser for Sage Gateshead with our tutor and I’d wanted to ask Irene out on that evening.

“We’d danced all night but I had to wait 12 whole days until after halfterm to ask her out at the next class.

“I grabbed my opportunity and asked her out for a coffee. We were both really nervous. We talked to each other non-stop for three hours, which felt like five minutes, and we’ve never stopped talking since.”

Irene said: “The Christmas do was where we first started chatting properly and getting to know each other socially. We knew we liked each other but we hadn’t told each other. By February, we realised that we had felt this connection, we were always chatting in the group at break time.”

Wendy Smith, Director of Creative Learning at Sage Gateshead, said: “This is an absolutely lovely and unexpected story to have come out of our Silver Programme. All of our classes aim to bring together people of all ages who share a love of music, this story is incredibly special.

“You never know, we may be celebrating our first ever ‘Silver’ wedding!”

Book classes on 0191 443 4661, or at sagegateshead.com