Sailing along together

Jim and Beryl Shuttleworth have lived at Queen’s Manor retirement home since the end of October.

Jim arrived a little later than B and during that time it was clear to all at the home just how much B was missing him.

The team were delighted when Jim moved in, and even more so when it was discovered that their 70th wedding anniversary was the very next day.

The care team organised a room for a surprise private lunch, flowers and fizz where

Jim awaited his beautiful date. B entered the room not knowing about her beloved husband and the anniversary surprise. She was completely overjoyed.

Jim and B’s family, including children and grandchildren, then joined them on the weekend for a family celebration.

The couple have quickly become a cherished part of Queen’s Manor and everyone is enjoying getting to know them.

The Lifestyle Enrichment team discovered some classic and interesting finds at Cramond Kirk book sale. In particular they found two old dictionaries which they knew Jim would appreciate for his daily crosswords.

When leafing through the leather bound books, Jim came across a photo of the Queen Elizabeth which he worked on in 1948 on her maiden voyage.

This sparked lots of memories of Jim’s time working as a purser on ships sailing The Cunard Line.

As well as the Queen Elizabeth, Jim sailed on the Media from Liverpool to New York and the Franconia to Mumbai.

He worked on the ships with a friend who was dating a school teacher on shore in Liverpool.

She was lodging with a fellow teacher and Jim soon, though ‘reluctantly’, agreed to a blind date.

Unbeknown to Jim, his future wife B ‘reluctantly’ agreed to the

date also!

Fortunately, this shared reluctance was the first of many shared moments and adventures during their lifetimes..

Here are Jim and B 70 years on, still together and happily married.