HACKNEY'S ROMANTIC SIDE

HACKNEY may not be renowned for its romance, but behind its tough façade the borough has been hiding an amorous streak, writes Pamela Welsh

A couple who got married 60 years ago in a Hackney church have celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary this month. David and Gladys Jones tied the knot in Hampden Baptist Church, on the edge of Victoria Park in March 1947.
The happy couple, who now live in Essex, met in a shoe factory in a London ravaged by the Second World War.

David moved to London in his early teens, having been placed in an orphanage in Dagenham by his parents. He remains upbeat despite his difficult past: “It was the orphanage that got me the job at the shoe place, and without that, I would never have met Gladys,” he said.

David, now 78, said: “We were childhood sweethearts. We met in 1943, when I started to work at the factory. I was 14, and she was a year older. She taught me how to use the machinery and it was love at first sight. I married her when I was 18.”
It has not always been an easy ride for the couple. After moving to Benfleet in Essex and starting a family, tragedy struck for the Joneses when their youngest son, also called David, died when he was just 19 years old.

“I don’t like to talk about it much,” Mr Jones said, “but Gladys was always there for me. Over the years she has become my breath of air.”

With the latest statistics showing that, on average, 13 couples per thousand get divorced in Britain each year, Mr and Mrs Jones have bucked the trend. Mr Jones said: “It’s so hard to explain. I suppose its being in love all this time. We’re as much in love now as the first day that we met.

“I thought she was the best thing since sliced bread then and I still do today. It’s never turned into a companionship for us. We still love each other.”
The Joneses moved out of London almost 40 years ago, and enjoy their time out of the big smoke. Gladys, who is now 80 years old, worked as a barmaid before the couple opened up their own pub, the Chequers, which they ran for 14 years, They are now retired, and spend their time with each other and their 12-year-old grandson Harry.
David continued: “We live in a nice apartment in Rayleigh in Essex. We’ve lived here for four years; it’s very comfortable.

“I haven’t been back to Hackney since, I’ve only moved through it. There have been tremendous changes there.”

The changes in population, due to a huge surge in post war immigration, shocked Mr and Mrs Jones: “I think it’s for the better, there’s much more going on now than in the old days.”

Their diamond wedding anniversary was celebrated by a special break in Bedfordshire. David says: “My son booked us a hotel in Bedford, overlooking the river there. It was very romantic.”

And the Joneses are not the only Londoners to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary this year. Six months after their wedding, the capital saw another set of nuptials in much different circumstances: Princess Elizabeth married the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey in November 1947.