Last updated at 15:57, Sunday, 30 December 2012

AFTER narrowly escaping the wrath of an angry father-in-law, a devoted husband is celebrating 70 years of wedded bliss.

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Jim and Marjorie Tighe, who both live at St Cuthbert’s Nursing Home in Aldingham, reached their platinum anniversary on December 22.

The pair received a congratulatory telegram from the Queen, arranged by St Cuthbert’s activity co-ordinators Catherine Davies and Debbie Benson.

Mr Tighe, aged 90, first met his bride-to-be in 1939 at the bakery where they both worked in Hyde, Cheshire.

Mr Tighe said: “I saw this lovely girl singing at the top of her voice, and I thought ‘oh boy!’”

Mrs Tighe, aged 91, who sung in the local church choir, added: “He was a cheeky bugger, he asked me on a date.”

However her father, Andrew Robinson, did not initially approve of her suitor.

“Her dad chased me down the street, and once he even threw a cup of tea at me! Luckily he missed,” Mr Tighe recalled.

“He was a very devoted father. I did win him over but it took a lot of doing.”

After three years of courtship, Mr Tighe was called up to serve in the Royal Navy, which prompted the couple to get married.

“We couldn’t go on a honeymoon; it was war time. But we had a lovely day,” said Mrs Tighe.

After serving on the Arctic convoys, Mr Tighe returned home in 1946.

“It was lovely when he came home, it was like starting again,” said Mrs Tighe.

Mr Tighe worked in Barrow for a short while at Senior’s Bakery on Holker Street, before returning to Manchester, but the couple came back to the town in the 1980s.

“The secret of a happy marriage is to support each other and work together.

“Love each other that’s the main thing. If you love each other then nobody can part you,” said Mrs Tighe.

Their daughter, Karen Yates, said at the anniversary party: “Today has been absolutely brilliant. We would like to say a big thank-you to Catherine and Debbie for organising all this.”

The couple’s grandson, Ian Smith, from Walney, added: “It’s brilliant that they’re still together.”

First published at 13:08, Sunday, 30 December 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk