Eyes down for a full house as couple mark 71st anniversary

A couple who play together stay together.

This is the case for Bill and Alma Jacobs, from Kennington, who are in their 71st year of marriage, having celebrated their platinum anniversary in December 2015.

Their lasting love has led to them winning a Valentine’s Day competition held at Mecca, which sought to find the company’s longest married customers.

Mr and Mrs Jacobs, who play at the town centre bingo venue several times a week, were the longest married couple who entered in Ashford.

Mrs Jacobs said: “We are delighted to have won the competition and hope our story proves to any young couples just starting out that it is possible to have a long and happy marriage!”

The pair met at a dance in London when she was 15 and he was 21, and married shortly after Alma’s 16th birthday on December 22, 1945 at Brixton register office.

They moved to Ashford in 1966 with their two daughters, with Alma and Bill Jacobs won a Valentine’s Day competition at Mecca; the couple on their wedding day Bill going on to work for Houchins, then as an engineer at the Railway Works and also at the Little Chart Paper Mill.

After a short stint at the Kentish Express as a telephone operator Alma trained as a nurse and worked at the old Ashford Hospital before moving to the William Harvey’s A&E department. They are both now retired. Mrs Jacobs, who was known as nurse Jakey, added: “Marriage is very different now than when we were young.

“For starters we were married just a month after meeting each other.

“People always ask me what the secret is to a long and happy marriage and I always give the same advice – never, and I mean never, go to sleep after a cross word.”

To congratulate the couple, Mecca invited them to the club for a meal for two accompanied by an evening playing bingo, as well as a bouquet, champagne and a box of chocolates. Lucy Teakle, general manager at Mecca Ashford, said: “It’s fantastic to see how many long and happily married couples we have attending Mecca.

“Bill and Alma’s story is particularly close to our hearts as they’re like part of the family now as they’ve both been coming to the Mecca Ashford club since it first opened and have made many friends here, amongst colleagues and customers alike.

“It’s good to see that the pair still love each other as much now as the day they met back in 1945. Cheers to Bill and Alma!”