Doncaster sweethearts set to celebrate 65th wedding anniversary

Josephine and John Share of Warmsworth will enjoy a party on September 24 surrounded by their family and friends.

The couple met as teenagers whilst living in the same mining village in South Kirkby, and a relationship quickly blossomed.

In 1955, Josephine, then aged 17, became a nurse training in Harrogate eventually nursing in Pontefract, whilst John went to Barnsley Technical College to study for his City and Guilds.

Three years later, John was conscripted for two years National Service, in the Corps as a Sapper of the Royal Engineers.

It was during a period of short leave from the Army that the loved up couple tied the knot in a ceremony at South Kirkby Methodist Church on September 13 1958, Josephine's twentieth birthday.

However, the pair did not have long to fit in a honeymoon before John’s next deployment.

Josephine said: 'John got leave to come home on the Thursday, we got married on the Saturday. He had got a weeks leave so we went to Scarborough for a few days he went back to Aldershot on the Wednesday, then he went to Germany for almost two years.

'I gave up nursing in 1960, when John came out of the army. We went on another holiday to Scarborough ending up staying. We both got jobs for about six months until the season ended.'

After returning home to South Kirkby the pair moved to Doncaster living in a caravan at Arksey and Tickhill.

They later moved to Warmsworth in 1966 when John was accepted for as a role at Rossington Comprehensive School, where he stayed for almost 30 years teaching woodwork, metalwork, and technical drawing.

Meanwhile, Josephine had various jobs, initially working at British Ropes for 10 years, then Paragon Plastics before joining the Youth Training Scheme which included teaching young unemployed '˜non academics' life skills, eventually retiring in the early 1990s.

Two years later she became a volunteer at St. John's Hospice on Weston Road.

It was here she stayed for almost 25 years, as clerical and computer support for the Macmillan nurses, a job which she loved.

Alongside that she ran the private White Rose Theatre Club from 1985 until 2016, a non-profit making club for theatre lovers who would enjoy trips to all major cities across the UK London Weekends, and holidays overseas.

John, now 86, and Josephine, 85, have enjoyed cruise holidays for a number of years, until John contracted a viral infection which destroyed his hearing and the couple were advised to no longer travel overseas. However, life took a turn for the better when the couple travelled to Bradford in 2016, so John could have a cochlea implant fitted.

Josephine said: 'Before the operation we had to communicate on paper! or use a Boogie Board but having the implant has changed John's life, things have come back to normal he can now hear again.

'The couple now enjoy sightseeing once more, frequenting the Golden Fleece Hotel in Thirsk, and enjoying numerous five day coach getaways when they can.

John is also an active senior member of the Royal Engineers Veterans Association, who meet at The Royal British Legion in Edlington every month.

When asked the secret to a long and interesting marriage, Josephine said: 'Anyone that tells you they don't argue does not have a happy marriage.

'There's a poem we try to adhere to, it's by Edgar Guest and it's called Myself.'

'You have to look at the other person's point of view, and don't go to bed on an argument.'