Front page Gretna Green teens celebrate 60 years of marriage
A COUPLE who tried to elope to Gretna Green as love-struck teenagers have celebrated 60 years of happy marriage with a party for family and friends.
Michael and Valerie Cooper made the front page of the A&T in 1959 when they were traced to Scotland by their worried families after going missing.
Valerie (nee Waller) was 15 and Michael 19 when they met in Lymington High Street and enjoyed their first date at the pictures.
She recalled: “We thought that we should be together forever. We wanted to get married straight away and couldn’t bear to wait until I was 18.”
It was on St Valentine’s Day they made their dash for Gretna Green, where the marriage laws were different and they did not require parental consent.
Valerie’s parents were only alerted to her disappearance when she failed to return from work for lunch. The police were called and the pair were found having already filled in the registration forms ahead of the ceremony.
They were brought back to Lymington, but after much persuasion by their parents a wedding was arranged to take place at the town’s register office.
The couple first lived with Michael’s parents in Pennington while he returned to his landscape gardening job.
After their first daughter Linda was born in October 1959, they moved to live in a caravan at Hordle, where they spent a bitterly cold winter.
In 1960 Michael changed jobs to become a builder working for Tommy Sexton, and the family were given a more suitable home at Buckland.
In 1961 their son Gary was born, followed by Martin in 1962 and Susan in 1964.
In 1963, another extremely cold winter forced Michael to leave the building trade and he went to work at Wellworthy, where he remained for around three years. The family then moved to their own home in Meadow Road, where they lived for many years.
The family enjoyed outings to the Forest and Michael took the boys clay pigeon shooting, fishing and to see motor racing at Thruxton.
In 1969, fifth child Michael was born and the following year the family enjoyed their first holiday to Cornwall in an old Bedford camper van.
By this time Michael had returned to the building trade, which he continued in until a leg condition forced early retirement in his late 50s.
With the children growing up, Michael and Valerie decided to have another baby and in 1978 Michelle was born.
When Michelle reached school age Valerie went back to work as a cook at Pennington school for 14 years.
Nine years ago the couple moved to a bungalow in Hordle. They have a black Labrador called Poppy and Valerie loves baking. They are also very close to their children, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren
Around 70 family and friends attended their anniversary party at Pennington Social Club where grandson Darren Horne is the manager. They were also delighted to receive a card from the Queen.
