When they celebrate their wedding anniversary today Arthur and Isobel Smith have a lot of memories to look back on – 65 years’ worth.
The couple are marking their blue sapphire wedding six-and-a-half decades after tying the knot in Forfar on March 8, 1958.
Arthur, 91, and Isobel, 87, still live in Forfar, in the home they have shared for 56 years.
They’ll be welcoming many of their large family – which includes three children, seven grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren – to celebrate the special day with them.
Arthur was a lorry driver most of his days, first delivering school dinners across Angus before spending many years with Allison’s of Clepington Road, Dundee, and latterly working with Gibbs of Fraserburgh.
From 1950 to 1952 he did his National Service with the Black Watch, where he was in the pipe band, then the Seaforth Highlanders.
He was based at Fort George but was called to active service in the Malayan conflict and still has the campaign medal he earned.
Isobel started her working life in an office but is perhaps best known locally for her 28 years at the Guide Dog Centre in Forfar, where she worked in a domestic capacity.
Isobel Wilkie, as she was known then, met her husband-to-be at a dance in the town.
They were married two years later at the Eastern Old Church, with their reception at the Palais and their honeymoon a few days in Edinburgh.
Arthur told us the key to their relationship was simple harmony.
He said: “We have our ups and downs like anybody but we just get on together.
“And porridge in the morning and whisky at night helps!”
They received a card from the late Queen Elizabeth II on their 60th wedding anniversary and hope to open another from King Charles and Queen Camilla today.
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