SOULMATES who got engaged after only one month together say they are more in love than ever before as they celebrate 50 years of marriage.

Devoted Port couple Roger and Margaret Foster met while working in The Grand Hotel in Scarborough back in 1965.

Fifty-two years later, to mark their golden wedding anniversary, the couple went back to where it all began to renew their vows.

Margaret said: “It was love at first sight — I just knew that Roger was the one.

“I think you know if the love is there deep down.

“No matter what comes and goes, knowing that person is a good person is all that counts.

“We’ve had ups and downs and hard times but we have always worked as a team.

“I think that is so important.”

It was back in 1965 when cupid’s arrow struck for Margaret, 71, and Roger, 68, who live in Dykeneuk Road in Devol.

Margaret said: “I was working for Blacks the tent maker in Port Glasgow and my friend Mary Barry asked me if I wanted to work with her in Scarborough for the season.

“If it was not for Mary, we would’ve never met.

“At first I didn’t want to leave my mum but Mary convinced me.

“I worked as a waitress in The Grand Hotel, met Roger, and the rest is history.”

Roger, who was a food and wine waiter at the hotel, said: “My brother was working in The Grand and encouraged me to work with him.

“When I saw Margaret for the first time there was an instant attraction.
Margaret added: “I remember Roger wearing his black waiter’s trousers, a black dickie bow and he had this wee quiff in his hair.”

The couple married in St Peter’s Church in Scarborough and settled in the town before work took them to London and eventually back to Scarborough before they moved to Port Glasgow.

Margaret said: “After my dad died in 1976 I wanted to be with my mum.

“We only planned to move back for two years but we settled here.”

Roger added: “I was initially on a two-year loan to McIntyres, the local Vauxhall/Bedford dealer, as a technician but when the time came to return down south we had both grown so fond of Inverclyde that we decided to stay put permanently.”

The couple, who have three grown-up children — Julie Anne, Janet and Roger junior — say Scarborough still holds a special place in their heart.
Margaret said: “It was wondrous going back to the church where we married.

“We still visit Scarborough every year and go to the church, so we know the parishioners there.

“They made us a chocolate cake for the occasion and afterwards, the local priest Canon Edmund Gubbins joined us for a special meal.”

Their son Roger jnr accompanied them to the ceremony alongside his wife Susan and their niece and her daughter Angela and Bex Wainright.

Margaret said: “Our son organised the whole Scarborough trip and we stayed in The Grand Hotel with a seaview.”

The couple, who have three grandchildren, Calum, Katie and Gabriella, were also given a blessing by Fr Eoin Patten at St Francis’ Church in Port Glasgow.

Daughter Julie Anne ensured the celebrations continued back home by organising special surprises.

Margaret and Roger are keen to thank their family and friends for making their anniversary so special.