by Nick Evans

Her mother warned it wouldn’t last, but now Dorreen and Harry Castle have more than proved her wrong by celebrating their platinum wedding anniversary.
The couple, who live in Kent Avenue, Minster, were wed as war clouds were gathering on July 8, 1939 at a register office on the Isle of Wight.
“I was a shy young thing who had never been away from home,” recalled Dorreen, who originally comes from Yorkshire.
“Harry and I had met the previous Christmas and he had been posted south after becoming a prison officer.
Retired
“My family wanted to have a full church ceremony back up north but Harry said I’d have to go south if I wanted to marry him – so I did.”
His job brought the couple to Maidstone and Sheppey where Harry was physiotherapist in the Eastchurch prison hospital and they retired on the Island in 1978.
Harry, 96, and Dorreen, who has just turned 91, enjoyed a celebration lunch with friends on the day. They also celebrated with fellow members of the Civil Service Club at their monthly meeting.
So how have the couple beaten Dorreen’s mother’s grim prediction all those years ago? Tolerance, says Dorreen, and a healthy diet of home cooked Yorkshire food.
Not being hit where the bruises might show, piped up Harry in jest – the couple are still very much in love.
The couple went on to have five children. They also have eight grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.