Black Country couple give us the secrets to a successful marriage over 60 years.
Val and Geoff Best from Sedgley are celebrating sixty years as a loving wedded couple. What does it take to get to sixty years and still be in happy and in love?
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00:00 So we've with Val and Jeff, Val and Jeff best, no relation to George best, we've established that.
00:08 Were you any good at football though? No. Were you a Man U fan? No. Were you a Man U fan?
00:15 Oh no I've never been interested in football to be honest. Oh right well it's a good job you're not mate.
00:19 He's crazy about football. Is he? He's a Walsall supporter. Yeah good on Walsall mate, yeah good things happening for them.
00:27 So guys we're in Sedgley and you're celebrating your diamond wedding anniversary.
00:33 So for those not in the know how many years is that? 60. 60 years, 60 years.
00:39 So we came and covered your golden wedding didn't we? Yes you did. We'll flash up a picture of that.
00:43 And you know what I'm going to ask, what's the secret to getting to 60 years of blissful marriage?
00:49 Not giving up when it gets tough. You know when the going gets tough don't give up, carry on.
00:59 We've always been clasped together anyway. We've always had our hopes up. Everyone does doesn't it?
01:05 I think it's how you handle them isn't it? And you know don't give up. Don't give up.
01:09 So you've got here happy, happily. Yes, yes.
01:15 I don't think you'd be invited us round if you were at war with each other. No, no.
01:19 We've had a little look through your wedding album there, lovely album. Where were you married at then?
01:23 St Paul's Church in Wensbury. Yeah and memories of the day, was it a nice day for you?
01:29 It was lovely, it didn't rain at all did it? No it didn't. No it was a lovely day.
01:33 Yeah and you've got a son, Steve. Yeah. So you're having a party later I believe, is that right?
01:39 Yes, the first lots are coming at half one. Yeah and then you've got another batch coming in.
01:43 I shall be in bed by then. I know yeah.
01:47 So do you kind of like, is that one thing you like to do, you're very sociable people then are you?
01:51 Yes, oh yeah. We've got lots of lovely friends. We've got lots of friends. Yeah. Lots of friends.
01:55 So how did you meet then? The Queen's Ballroom, Wolverhampton.
01:59 Dancing to a live band, the Bob Potter band.
02:05 Oh okay, yeah, yeah. And we just, I used to win the twist competitions, twisty. Yeah.
02:11 And we loved the drive didn't we? Oh yeah. Our life was dancing. Yeah.
02:15 Yeah, it was dancing. The 60s era was fabulous.
02:19 So did you kind of see us twisting around on the dance floor and pop over and say,
02:23 "Yeah I'd like to introduce myself." I was upstairs in the balcony looking down
02:27 and I saw her there and she saw me and pretended she hadn't done it. Yeah, of course, of course.
02:31 So I thought, she waited for me to go down to her.
02:35 Yeah, plain hard to get.
02:39 And that was it really. Yeah. And we always used to go for a meal on a Saturday night.
02:45 That was very posh those days, I'll tell you. We used to go to a restaurant in Piper's...
02:51 Chinese? In Wolverhampton, in Piper's Row. Oh, what was the name of the restaurant? Can you remember?
02:56 No, Piper's Row. And to have a meal as well was really posh those days.
03:00 Yeah, pushing the boat out like... And then we used to get the last bus home. Yeah.
03:04 And walk the rest of the way. And never saw no problems, never had any trouble.
03:09 No trouble at all those days. Yeah. You were safe. So your courting days were all kind of on the dance floor really,
03:14 your early days. Yeah, yeah. Well, bearing in mind I lived at High Hawaii,
03:19 the long journey to get to Wensbury for me. Yeah.
03:23 And many nights I'd miss Lascaux. Yeah. From Dudley, you'd have to walk from Dudley down to Woodside.
03:29 That's a fair trek, isn't it? That is a fair trek. Yeah.
03:32 So you were married, you were telling me off camera when Little Chinwang, you spent all the money on the wedding
03:38 and there wasn't much left in the budget for the honeymoon. Well, we had the honeymoon.
03:42 We went to London and we went, "Oh, I haven't got anything left really." Yeah.
03:46 We went on honeymoon, we got the train back to Wensbury, then we got the bus. Yeah.
03:52 In those cases, we went back to Mum's and yeah, we lived there for over two years to save this £800.
04:01 Yeah. So living at your mum and dad's, like you say, so you could get some money together. That's right.
04:06 And go on, how much was your first house then? £3,800 and we managed to save £800. Yeah.
04:12 In nearly three years. Yeah. You did well. Yeah.
04:17 So you'll be celebrating with family and friends then. Yes, yes.
04:21 And will you treat yourself to a night away in London again? A little break. Yeah.
04:25 We'll go to our Warner break. Ah, right grand. That'll be lovely.
04:28 The New Studley Castle one. Oh, wow. Great stuff.
04:31 And my sister-in-law and husband are treating us to a cremin at the Rodeo tomorrow. Yeah.
04:36 It's nice there. And then we're out Sunday, aren't we? Yeah.
04:40 So is that the key to a happy kind of marriage then? Keep yourselves active, keep busy, plenty of friends.
04:47 Definitely. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. A lot of times. Oh, yeah.
04:51 I really cherish the people in my life. Yeah. They make our life good as well, don't they?
04:57 Can you still do the twist or are the Ips not up to it anymore? I can do it.
05:01 I can do it without Tom. Yeah. I know I don't look it, but I don't suffer good health now.
05:07 Oh, right. He cares for me now and I don't know what I'd do without him.
05:11 We were up in the middle of the night again this night. Yeah.
05:15 And I've got severe asthma. Yeah. And really knocks me. Yeah.
05:22 My voice is going like this now. Yeah. I don't know what I'd do without him. Yeah.
05:26 He never moans, he never gets tired, do you?
05:29 Well, I'll stop pestering with my silly questions. So go on, give him a kiss on the cheek.
05:33 Show him you love him. I've got my lipstick on. Go on. A gentle one then. A gentle one.
05:40 Thank you guys for sharing this time with us. Thank you.