A COUPLE who had their first kiss in the dark at Wellington Monument celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary this week.

William and Rosemary Franks, known as Bill and June, were in a group watching a sports event at the monument in 1950, when they decided to pay the 6d in ‘old money’ for a candle to climb the inside of the monument.

On the way down, somebody blew out the candle – and that is when it happened!

But, Bill, who then lived in Hemyock, did not see June again for another year, when they started exchanging letters.

And when June’s mother moved the family from Wellington to live in Branscombe, Devon, the couple had a long-distance courtship at weekends, meeting up near Honiton, where they were married in 1954.

Bill, aged 91, and June, aged 88, now live in Tone Hill, Wellington, and have a son Paul, who lives in Australia and will be visiting them later in August, and daughter Wendy George, who lives in Wellington.

They have five grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren, 15 of whom live in Australia and Tasmania.

After their monument tryst, Bill had a few jobs and trained as a plumber before joining the Army for his National Service, which saw him serve in North Africa from Tripoli through to Tobruk.

He said: “I liked the Army, it suited me and if I had not met June I would have stayed in and signed up, but it is not a place for married couples.”

So, Bill was demobbed in 1953 and had a number of jobs before working as a maintenance man for Queens College, Taunton, until his retirement.

June, who had been a market gardener, spent 10 years as warden for residents in Bovet Street, Wellington, after the couple moved back to the town in 1969, and then worked for the Ken Coles agricultural business and later on Chris Tolchard’s farm outside the town until retirement.

Their secret recipe for a happy marriage: “Being great friends. We have some ups and downs but never to the ‘fighting’ stage, and we have never had ‘his and hers’ purses, we always shared.”