Shoreham couple celebrate platinum anniversary

Bill and Maisie Henderson married on February 25, 1950 in Fulham after meeting in the RAF where they both worked as demobbers – sending the men and women home after the war.

While doing their national service, the pair were sent to Germany, where they really began to develop their relationship.

Maisie, 90, finished her service three months before Bill and returned home to London.

When Bill, 91, was released from service, he did not travel back home – instead he went to London to wait at the end of Maisie’s street to surprise her as she left for work in the morning.

Bill proposed to Maisie at the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Light Railway with the words ‘I suppose we should get married’ – a fond memory for the pair, who wed shortly after and moved into a flat in London.

The couple moved to Greenacres in Shoreham in 1980, where they soon became part of the community.

Diane Henderson, one of the couple’s two daughters, said: “Mum has been a member of everything in Shoreham – she always loved volunteering and putting herself forward.”

In the past, Maisie has been part of Shoreham over-60s book club .

Bill’s main hobby was gardening and he owned several allotments in Shoreham, often winning awards across the south for prize dahlias.

The celebration for the anniversary saw family members, as well as friends, gather in the communal area of Homehaven Court, Shoreham, where they have lived for 15 years.

There was plenty of food and decorations, including bouquets or irises and daffodils to replicate Maisie’s bridal bouquet, an idea that Diane thought was ‘extremely sweet’.

At the celebrations for their anniversary, Bill told many jokes and stories and reminisced to his family and friends with a speech.

One of Bill’s stories detailed how, to this day, he still remembers the number of the phone box outside the RAF base that Maisie would call every day after she finished her service.

Diane said: “The celebration was wonderful and we plan to put together an album of pictures from the day – similar to their wedding album.

“We didn’t do that for the 50th and 60th celebration so we thought it would be nice to have something to look back on in the future.”

When asked about their secret to a long marriage, Bill said ‘agreeing to disagree’ was the key to maintaining harmony.