Sweethearts back in Oban after 50 years
Sweethearts John and Sue Hicks have returned to Oban after half a century to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.
The happy couple, from South Wales, married two years after a romantic break to the town in 1966 and had always wanted to come back.
A planned trip had to be cancelled last year after Mrs Hicks fell dangerously ill with sepsis but the pair were the picture of good health when they met up with The Oban Times last week at the same hotel they stayed in the ’60s.
‘It had to be Oban for our special anniversary. We have such lovely memories of coming here as sweethearts. It hasn’t really changed that much. It’s good to be back, it’s quite a stroll down memory lane for us,’ said Mrs Hicks.
It took a Google search before the couple realised the Caledonian Hotel on Station Square had now changed its name to the Perle Oban and were able to make a booking.
‘We paid just 13 shillings and six pence a night. That’s less than one pound in today’s money. It costs a bit more than that nowadays but we think we’ve got the same room, the view looks similar,’ said Mr Hicks, who was a 22-year-old highways worker when he drove his then 17-year-old girlfriend up to the west coast in a red Mini. This time they travelled in a 4x4.
‘She brought £5 spending money with her. It was her first holiday,’ said Mr Hicks who chivalrously paid the hotel bill – last time and this time. He still has the original receipt back home.
‘When we pulled up at the hotel all those years ago a man dressed in blue with gold braid came out and took our cases. I remember the glass doors just sliding apart. We’d never experienced anything like that in our lives coming from a small mining village,’ remembered Mr Hicks.
‘Only the best for my he added.
A trip to Mull and Iona Abbey was on the itinerary 52 years ago – this time it was a distillery tour and taking in the seasonal delights of Oban Winter Festival.
Mr and Mrs Hicks, who live in Beddau near Cardiff, have two daughters and a 16-yearold grand-daughter. girl,’