We were married at the Parish Church of All Saints, Royal Leamington Spa, on December 23rd, 1972. On our Silver Wedding, we returned to All Saints' for our celebration. The evening began with a Service of Thanksgiving, at which we reaffirmed our marriage vows. The Service was conducted, and the Address given, by the Revd. Canon George Warner. We sang again the hymns we had at our wedding, and the Revd. Roy Large read the lesson, St. Paul's great tribute to love from 1 Corinthians, 13. The Service ended with the Organ Voluntary, Messiaen's exuberant 'Transports de joie', brilliantly played by Colin Druce.

After the Service, we went with our family and friends to the Urquhart Room. We circulated among our guests for a while, and then supper was served.
Carol's sister, Margaret Cardall, with her husband, John, on the left, and Don's sister, Sheila Banham, chatting to Geoff Mountford, who was the Best Man at our wedding, on the right.

Neighbours from the street where we live, below left, and on the right, friends from All Saints enjoying Geoff's speech, when he toasted our health.

Above left, two friends from the world of libraries chatting with Canon George Warner, and on the right, Carol's niece Michele, with her parents, looking at our wedding album, and remembering her day as a 13-year old bridesmaid.

At our wedding, we asked the friend who made our cake to make us something traditional but different. This beautiful three-tier black cake, a copy of traditional Wedgwood porcelain patterns, was the result. For our silver wedding, Annette Hamilton commissioned another black Wedgwood cake, and working from photographs of our wedding cake, Carolyn's Cakes produced a perfect copy of the top tier.

Cutting the cake, 1972 and 1997

This was a very special evening for us, and we were very grateful to Annette, Diana, and Annette's husband Paul who decorated the room and the tables so beautifully for us, and prepared a traditional English meal of roast beef with vegetables, followed by Queen's pudding, coffee and mints, which everyone enjoyed so much. For them, it was an evening of hard work, for us it was an evening of great joy that we shall never forget.

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