Couple who met at dance enjoy 60th anniversary

A COUPLE who met at a dance at Henley town hall have celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.

Ian and Marina Clark, of Reading Road, were teenagers and had known each for just seven months when they were married on January 11, 1964.

Mr Clark, who was born and raised in Henley, spent 24 years in the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry, then the Royal Green Jackets, after joining the Territorial Army at age 17.

He then ran a removals company for 20 years before retiring.

His wife, who came from Spain, worked in the sewing room at the old Townlands Hospital before the couple started a family.

The couple have two daughters, Romy, now 58, who still lives in Henley, and Samantha, 54, who lives in Perth, Australia, and a son, John 56, who now lives in Benson. They have seven grandchildren.

Mr Clark, 80, said: “We met in June 1963 at Henley town hall where there was a dance every Saturday. I can remember that Marina was wearing a black and white skirt and a black top.”

His wife joked: “I was definitely wearing a miniskirt.”

Mr Clark said that it was her “big blue eyes” that caught his attention, adding: “I knew that she was the one from the moment I saw her.”

Mrs Clark, 78, who had moved to Henley from Spain with her aunt in 1961, said: “I had a German gentleman friend who seemed to take a fancy to me and he wanted to meet me on the Saturday but I never went. Instead I went to the town hall.

“When I was there a man asked me to dance with him but he had been on the drink so I didn’t want to dance with him in case he fell on me but he would not take no for an answer. And then Ian came to my rescue.”

Over the next seven months, Mr Clark would go to see Marina in the nurses’ quarters at the hospital.

Mrs Clark said: “Ian came over every night to sit in the big communal sitting room and watch the telly with all of us.

“Seven nights a week he would come to see me, so it was quite intense.

“I refused to go out with him for quite a little while but he kept on and on until I said, ‘Well, why not?”

One of their first dates was a boat trip on the River Thames.

Mr Clark said: “She hadn’t told me that she couldn’t swim, so she was lucky that the boat didn’t tip over.”

He proposed one night at the hospital. Mrs Clark said: “My friends and family thought that it was silly because we were so young and it was too soon. They thought that we would last maybe six or seven months and now here we are.”

The couple were married at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Vicarage Road.

About 50 people attended the wedding ceremony, including Mr Clark’s family and their friends and Marina’s aunt.

The bride’s parents had never flown so the couple saw them after the wedding in Spain.

The best man was Michael Winton, who went to school and played football with Mr Clark.

Mrs Clark’s dress was inspired by Spanish Flamenco dresses, with four tiered layers.

Mr Clark’s brother paid for the couple to have a honeymoon in Brighton.

Mr Clark recalled: “We went for a week in Brighton and as I pulled open the curtains one morning there was 3ft or 4ft of snow. I said to Marina, ‘I am going back to bed’.”

Back in Henley, the couple lived in Mr Clark’s uncle’s house for two years until Romy was born.

The couple lived in Cromwell Road, Henley, for 48 years and downsized to their current home on Reading Road two years ago.

The couple enjoy gardening, travelling and seeing their grandchildren.

Mr Clark was a Conservative Henley town councillor for four years from 2019 to 2023.

Now he enjoys watching his grandson, Liam, 26 play football in Tylers Green, near High Wycombe.

Mrs Clark likes to meet up with her friend Pilar Griffin, who came from her hometown near Santiago de Compostela and also settled in Henley. The couple had a holiday home in the Spanish town for years but sold it two years ago. They would enjoy trips with family and friends all year round.

Mrs Clark still speaks Spanish fluently while her husband enjoys her home-made tortillas.

She said: “If we have a barbecue or family event even the grandkids now say, ‘Nanny, please make a tortilla’.”

Mr Clark said: “Marina has tried to teach me a few phrases in Spanish but it is a bit of a waste of time, although I do know when she is swearing at me.”

The couple agreed there was no secret to a long marriage.

Mr Clark said: “It’s just companionship at the end of the day. We loved to travel with each other — we have been all over the world.

“I would be lost without her — she is just the best. I couldn’t have asked for a better person.”

His wife added: “We are just always there for each other. My husband is not too well at the moment as he suffered a stroke two years ago, so I do need to be there for him.

“It does not feel as if 60 years have been and gone — it feels like 10 years at the most.”

The couple received a letter from King Charles and Queen Camilla congratulating them on their achievement.

Mrs Clark said: “When I saw the envelope and Buckingham Palace postmark it was quite a surprise. I thought, ‘Did I do something wrong or are they giving me a medal?’ I was so unsure.”

The couple celebrated with 14 members of their family over a meal at the Miller of Mansfield in Goring.

Their children surprised them with gift of a cruise on the Norwegian Fjords.