Evenwood couple renew vows to celebrate golden wedding anniversary

AN Evenwood couple have proved their love is everlasting by tying the knot again 50 years on.
Eddie and Mary Hill renewed their vows to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary on March 25.
Returning to St Alban’s Church, in Trimdon Grange, the couple relived their big day with their family and friends, many of who were at the original ceremony in 1967.

Mrs Hill, 71, said: “We renewed our vows at the same church, at the same time with two of our original bridesmaids and all the groomsmen. Everyone came back to our house after the service.”
The couple also enjoyed a celebratory lunch the day before at Teesdale Day Clubs at the Randolph Centre, in Evenwood, where they were presented with flowers and a bottle of bubbly. Mr Hill, who is originally from Trimdon Grange, met his wife, who is from Leeds, in Winterton Hospital Social Club, in Sedgefield, in 1962.
Mrs Hill said: “He had a motorbike and he was one of the boys. My friend was going out with him and they fell out. She introduced me to him and that is how we got together. She is still our best friend now. She lives in Australia.”
Mr Hill, 72, said: “She caught my eye. She was pretty.”
The couple got engaged on Mrs Hill’s 21st birthday and set the date for their wedding day.
Speaking of their big day, Mrs Hill said: “It was Easter weekend so we went away for the weekend to Doncaster for our honeymoon. A young married couple in those days didn’t have much money.”
The couple have two daughters, Julie and Joanne, who were both born in Hartlepool. When Julie was seven and Joanne was just three, the family embarked on a big move. Mr Hill said: “I was working in construction and work was not good because of the labour strikes so we decided to move. It could have been anywhere but we chose South Africa. We went for two years and said if we liked it we would stay.”
However, after moving near to Johannesburg in 1975, the couple spent the next 36 years there with their two girls.
Although their eldest daughter, Julie, still lives in South Africa, their youngest, Joanne returned to the UK to reside in Evenwood about 10 years ago. Upon their retirement, Mr and Mrs Hill decided to follow and have been back in Teesdale now for six years. Mrs Hill said: “For the first three years of coming back to England, we kept going back to South Africa for three months but we don’t anymore. We do miss the sunshine.”
The couple, who have four grandchildren, have shared a love of motorbikes and have also enjoyed gardening together.
Speaking of the past 50 years, Mrs Hill said: “There has been lot of rough seas and stormy water but we have always managed to find a lifeboat and find some land. I don’t believe anyone who says they don’t argue throughout their marriage. Marriage is a job, not just a piece of paper and a church service and jobs are hard. As far as we were concerned we were getting married forever.”