We found our love machine!
Astonishing story of the couple who bought a vintage bike... and found it was the same one they rode to their secret wedding 60 years ago
IT WAS their transport to Scotland as they fled 600 miles to tie the knot in secret.
Bob and Jean Smith headed north from Cornwall on a motorbike in 1956 because their parents felt they were too young to marry.
However, the couple – who have just celebrated their diamond anniversary – were stunned to discover that the machine they recently bought at a vintage rally was the one they had eloped on.
When Mr Smith, now 79, opened the crank case he found the love note he had scratched inside with a screwdriver.
The couple had sold the 1947 Royal Enfield Flying Flea motorbike a few years after their marriage to cover some bills.
But on spotting what he thought was a similar model at the rally Mr Smith decided he had to snap it up.
Mrs Smith, 77, said: ‘When my husband took the crank case off he found a love note he had written, so we knew that it was the original bike.
‘I could not believe it. It had
‘Bike made our love possible’
both our names on and the year and place we were married. It said, “This bike made our love possible”.’
She added: ‘My husband normally writes a note in the crankshaft on all his bikes with his name so he knows which one he has done up – but this one was obviously extra special for us. As soon as we found the love note we knew it was our bike.
‘We do vintage rallies and my husband came across one that looked exactly like our old one.
‘It brought back so many memories that we just had to buy it.’
Mr Smith said: ‘It was only this note that confirmed it was ours. Everything else had been lost. There was no number plate or logbook. The bike was all in bits. The note was the only thing that meant we could identify it as our original bike. We only realised after we had bought it and it was a great shock.’
The couple, of Perranporth, Cornwall, are planning a big family celebration in December to mark their 60th anniversary with their children Janet, 58, Connie, 55, and David, 54, as well as ten grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
They met when Mrs Smith took a job as a waitress at the Perranporth Hotel. Her future husband was the head chef.
The two quickly fell for each other and despite her mother’s disapproval, Mrs Smith said nothing was going to keep them apart. They spent three months plotting how they would marry in secret.
Mrs Smith recalled: ‘The trip to Scotland was my first time on a motorbike. We went to get around marriage laws. My mum was very strict and she would not let me go anywhere. It was definitely a real adventure.
‘My husband had bought the bike in 1955 and we got married the following year. We came back after getting married and stayed with Bob’s parents.
‘We sold the bike as we only had £5 in our pocket – which we gave her towards food.’
In 1955 it cost them £22, but now it is valued at £5,000.
Recalling how she met her husband, Mrs Smith said: ‘It was love at first sight. He said when he first saw me knew he was going to marry me. When we came back lots of people said it would never work and we have proved them all wrong.
‘We didn’t tell a soul. Bob sent postcard to his mum telling her he was on holiday but didn’t buy a stamp so she had to pay to receive it.
‘My mother called the police who went to Bob’s mum’s house but once we reached Scotland there was nothing they could do.’
The runaways has planned to get married at Gretna Green, but there were so many other couples there they eventually tied the knot at Annan Town Hall on October 15, 1956.
Mrs Smith added: ‘We are just as in love as the day we married. I could not do without him.’