Couple's emotional vow renewal ceremony

LOVE was certainly in the air in Dinnington as the bells at St Leonard’s Church rang out across the town.

But it definitely wasn’t your traditional, run of the mill, wedding ceremony that was the reason for the chimes.

Romantic Harold Glossop (81) had arranged to renew his wedding vows on Saturday with wife Margaret, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

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Retired welder Harold organised the ceremony to mark his special bond with his wife of 59 years after they were told by specialists that Margaret (80) might not live until their diamond wedding anniversary on Boxing Day.

He said: “The specialists told us the cancer had spread and gave her a prognosis of six to nine months.

“It got me thinking because I thought we weren’t going to be able to celebrate our diamond anniversary.

“I woke at 4am one morning and I suddenly had the idea of renewing our vows.”

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The couple met in July 1955, just after Harold had returned from National Service in Hong Kong.

They got engaged in March 1956 before tying the knot at St Leonard’s Church on Boxing Day that year.

Harold said: “When I proposed to Margaret I didn’t do the best job to be honest.

“It was about 3am and we had just left a party.

“I had my head resting on her lap and I looked up and said: ‘When are we going to get married then?’ and she said: ‘Are you asking me to marry you?’

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“All these years later, I decided I wanted to propose properly and I arranged for the DJ at The Three Magpies pub in Brinsworth to play Ronan Keating’s She Believes In Me and Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You. It was great.”

More than 40 family and friends gathered at St Leonard’s for the service on Saturday when the couple, who have two children and four grandchildren, reaffirmed their love for one another.

Harold, originally from Masbrough, said: “It was a fantastic day and a lovely service. We had the weather for it as well.

“We have been together for a long time and Margaret means the world to me. We are very close.”

Margaret, who has lived in Dinnington all of her life, said: “It was a lovely day and Harold means so much to me.

“It was really nice to have our family and friends at the service as well.”