A 60 year love cycle (From Halesowen News)

A 60 year love cycle

11:50am Monday 20th August 2012 in News

LOVE and marriage may go together like a horse and carriage, but for a Cradley Heath couple it was a bike ride that led to 60 years of wedded bliss.

Childhood sweethearts Doris and Horace Thomas, were just 15 when they met by chance while cycling with friends and five years later tied the knot at St Peter’s Church, Cradley.

Their early years were difficult, living in lodgings where they were treated badly by their hosts and Mr Thomas developed tuberculosis resulting in many spells in hospital over five years.

They finally moved into a council house in Timbertree Crescent when their daughter was a year old - and 56 years later it is still home to Mr and Mrs Thomas, who have two grandchildren and one great-grandchild, with another on the way.

Mr Thomas, who was born in Blackeath, moved from warehouse work to the assembly line at Rover, while his Cradley-born wife worked in a factory and later as a cleaner at a children’s nursery in Cradley Heath.

The couple, both aged 80, were keen bowls players. They like walking and Mrs Thomas still enjoys a weekly swim.

“I think people give up too easily these days. We had a terrible start, but we got through it and have a good marriage,” said Mrs Thomas.