60 GLORIOUS YEARS TOGETHER
A BRANSTON couple with a passion for gardening today celebrate 60 happy years of marriage.
Arthur and Marlene Abberley, who are 82 and 81 respectively, are today celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary.
They got married on July 19, 1958, and went on to have two children, David and Stuart, and six grandchildren, Carrie, Rachael, Jodi, Callum, Joel and Chloe.
They met when they were both 17 years old, at Branston Youth Club, where they were both members, said their son, Stuart.
After four years of dating, they got engaged on Marlene’s 21st birthday and tied the knot when they were both 22 at St John the Divine Church, in Rolleston Road, Horninglow.
Due to money being tight, the newlyweds started their married life together living at Arthur’s parents’ home, while they saved up for a deposit for a place of their own.
Stuart said: “When they were first married they lived with Arthur’s parents.
“Back in those days it was far too expensive to rent, so they lived there while they saved up a deposit.
“When they’d saved up enough, my dad instead went out and bought himself a car – a Ford Anglia – so they had to save up again.”
The pair spent their honeymoon at the small seaside town of Mablethorpe, in Lincolnshire.
They enjoyed it so much and felt such a bond with it that they returned every year for roughly 30 years with their extended family. The happy couple even bought a holiday home there, but sold it when they retired.
Their first home together was a rented property in Rolleston Road, but they moved back to Arthur’s parents in order to save up money to pay for a house of their own.
After moving into their first home, they struggled to settle and ended up buying a different home in Burton Road, Branston, where they remain to this day.
Needing a “bit of love” when they first moved there, they have made many improvements throughout the years to transform it in the family home it is now.
Arthur spent much of his working life at Drakelow Power Station, where he worked for 30 years. Although he did also work in a gravel pit alongside his father and as an electrical contractor.
He completed National Service and was stationed in Aldershot as part of the military police.
Stuart revealed that his father did not last long in the role, having been left alone to guard some prisoners one night and they escaped. He completed his time in the military based in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Arthur took early retirement from Drakelow Power Station at the age of 60, but that did not stop him from helping out at Burton College for five years as an electrician.
Marlene, meanwhile, held a number of roles, including as a worker in a material factory and 10 years as a cleaner at Paget High School, Branston.
Since retiring, green-fingered Arthur and Marlene’s pride and joy is their garden, as both are avid gardeners. Stuart has even described it as “like something you’d see in Chelsea Flower Show”.
They spend most of their time “pottering” about in their garden and having visits from their many loving family members.
To mark 60 years of marriage, the couple will be joined by roughly 55 family members and friends at the Riverside Hotel, Branston on Sunday, July 29, for a meal.