Levin couple Alan and Edwina Dixon were married on September 30, 1950.
Levin couple Alan and Edwina Dixon were married on September 30, 1950.
A Levin couple that celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary this week have known each other a lot longer than that.
Alan, 93, and Edwina Dixon, 92, first met in their early teens. They would meet up with friends and ride around London on bikes.
"I had my gang and she had hers," he said.
One was from originally from Yorkshire, the other from Lancashire, as you could tell by their distinctly different accents.
One day Alan Dixon asked Edwina Castle if she would like to go to the movies. She said yes, but had to get special permission from her parents first. They must have thought he was okay, as he was invited to her 14th birthday dinner, too.
But they were uncertain times. World War II had broken out and London was often being bombed. Everyone carried gas masks and huddled together in air raid shelters when sirens sounded another German attack.
Levin couple Alan and Edwina Dixon were given a bouquet of flowers by mayor of Horowhenua Bernie Wanden to mark their 70th wedding anniversary.
Often they weren't required at school until after lunch, if bombing had continued after midnight the night before.
In 1943, at just 16 years old, Alan joined the Merchant Navy. Two days later he was sailing the Atlantic on a ship bound for New York. He would spend the rest of war at sea, travelling the world.
But he often thought of Edwina, and she of him, and they kept in touch by letter.
Alan stayed on with the Merchant Navy following the war, but realised the men on board were rarely seeing their families. He decided it wasn't for him, and left for the US for two years of chiropractic studies.
Absence makes their hearts grow fonder and Alan and Edwina kept writing letters. There was always talk of marriage, but when he returned to the UK they made it official. He had asked her father first, of course.
On September 30, 1950, they were married in front of family and friends in a church in Stockport.
Levin couple Alan and Edwina Dixon on their wedding day in 1950.
But post-war life in the UK was extremely tough. Food was being rationed, and they were struggling to find a place of their own.
Alan told Edwina of New Zealand friends that he made while studying abroad - one a good friend living in Wellington - and he convinced the couple they should move down under.
They packed what few belongings they had and sailed for six weeks to Sydney and then flew at low altitude by night for eight hours into Wellington, splashing into Evans Bay on the water boat Ararangi with 43 other white-knuckled passengers.
When they docked that morning in 1952, they had just a suitcase and $60 between them.
"We spent all our money getting out here," he said.
Then, his friend George had some bad news. The flat he had lined up had just been sold.
"So we had no accommodation and no money," he said.
He looked at Edwina, who had never left home before. For a minute, they must have wondered what they had got themselves into.
They found Wellington wasn't much to their liking and in March 1953, they moved north to Levin.
Alan was the only chiropractor between Waikanae and Palmerston North at the time and began treating clients from an office located where the entrance to the Levin Mall carpark is now, later moving upstairs in a building on the corner of Oxford and Bath St.
With children Paul and Sheryl now in tow, it was always a team operation, with Edwina also taking care of all the finances and administration. Eventually they moved the practice to their new home in Oxford St, and he would treat clients from a purpose-built downstairs clinic.
Levin couple Alan and Edwina Dixon were married on September 30, 1950.
So what was the secret to a long and happy marriage?
"It's for life, and we knew it was going to be for life," they both said.
They enjoyed each other's company. Weathering the ups and downs together was important, as there is always the odd argument. It wasn't always smooth sailing.
"But that's all part of it."
Alan and Edwina celebrated the occasion, traditionally known as a platinum anniversary, with lunch with family and friends.
