Every marriage has its ups and downs — but for Eric and Nancy Kingston their union has played out against a backdrop of seismic world events. This month Britain’s longest-married couple celebrated their 80-year anniversary. Here, Eric, 98, and Nancy, 99, from Blackford, Somerset, tell TESSA CUNNINGHAM their extraordinary story of enduring love.
Eric, 98, and Nancy Kingston, 99, (pictured) from Blackford, Somerset, who are Britain’s longest-married couple, reflected on key memories from their relationship
PM’S ‘PEACE FOR OUR TIME’
1938
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returns from talks with Adolf Hitler in Munich, declaring he has secured ‘peace for our time’. A year later the nation is at war.
Around the period that Eric and Nancy (pictured left) met on a blind date, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (pictured right) had returned from talks with Adolf Hitler
Months after meeting on a blind date, Eric and Nancy get engaged. She is 17 and he is just 16. Eric, who has worked on a farm since leaving home at 11, has supplemented his meagre wages to buy the diamond ring (which Nancy still wears) by catching moles.
Nancy says: ‘Eric told me he had spotted me at the village fair and wanted to date me.
‘He was so gentle, with lovely manners. I was smitten. He didn’t propose. He simply announced, “We are getting married”.’
‘He has always known his own mind.’
THE DUNKIRK EVACUATION
1940
Some 300,000 troops were evacuated from the beaches of France in a Herculean effort by a fleet of 800 vessels.
Nancy recalls that rationing had started, when she went shopping for their wedding. Pictured: Eric and Nancy on their wedding day in 1940
It’s June 1 when Nancy walks down the aisle of the village church in a pale blue suit, navy blue hat and matching shoes.
‘Rationing was just starting and the clothes shops were bare. I pounced on the outfit and when I managed to find a new set of underwear, too, I was made up,’ she says.
The newlyweds spent their first night in their new home — a two-bedroom flat in the village of Westhay, a few miles from their current home in Somerset. ‘We shared a kitchen with the owner,’ says Eric. ‘She took us in rather than have evacuees from London billeted on her.’
HONOURABLE WAR SERVICE
1942
King George VI awards Malta the George Cross for heroism under relentless German air attack, and Desert Island Discs is first broadcast.
Nancy revealed that she would tease Eric (pictured), when he was doing his bit by joining the Home Guard
Eric’s farming was regarded as vital war work. He also did his bit by joining the Home Guard. ‘I used to tease him that, with him in the Home Guard, why should Britain tremble?’ laughs Nancy.
A German bomb fell near their home but failed to explode. Life was tough. ‘When we wanted a bath we would fill a bucket from the water pump in the garden, heat the water in a boiler in the kitchen and then pour it into a galvanised tub,’ she says.
Baths were a Saturday night treat. Eric always insisted that Nancy take the first dip.
THE D-DAY LANDINGS
1944
The D-Day landings are under way.
Eric and Nancy welcomed their first child Angela, in March 1944. Pictured left: The couple with their children. Pictured right: The D-Day landings
The couple were ecstatic when their first child, Angela, was born in March 1944. Like the three children who followed in quick succession, she was born at home, while an anxious Eric paced the garden. ‘Eric was desperate for a little girl to spoil,’ says Nancy.
‘It would have been curtains for me if I had produced a son.’ Nappies were in such short supply so Nancy cut up flannelette sheets instead.
Angela was followed, in March 1946, by Denis and, in March 1948, by Hazel, and later Derek.
REJOICE AT THE QUEEN’S CORONATION
1953
Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation takes place at Westminster Abbey. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest and fish fingers and electric washing machines became available to buy.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation (pictured) took place at Westminster Abbey in 1953, at the time Eric and Nancy had been married for nine years
The couple got their own home in 1953, a newly built three-bedroom council house in the Somerset village of Blackford
The couple had been married for nine years when they finally got their own home, a newly built three-bedroom council house in the Somerset village of Blackford.
They are still there more than 60 years later with their youngest son, Steve, who bought the home for them a few years ago.
‘I was thrilled to have water coming out of a tap,’ says Nancy. ‘There were no fitted carpets. In fact, it was 15 years before we could afford them.’
However, more excitement followed as Eric, who now worked for the Somerset Rivers Authority, increased his earnings.
In the mid-1950s Nancy — who supplemented their income by cleaning — got her first twin-tub washing machine. With a growing family — Derek was born in 1951 — she needed it.
THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
1962
Five years after Prime Minister Harold Macmillan tells Britons they have ‘never had it so good’, the world teeters on the edge of nuclear war during a 13-day stand-off between U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
Nancy admits she was shocked when she discovered that she was pregnant in 1962. Pictured left: The couple with their children. Pictured right: U.S. President John F. Kennedy
There’s a new baby in the family — Steve was born in 1961 just as big sister Angela was about to leave home.
‘Discovering that I was expecting was a shock,’ admits Nancy. ‘I thought I was done with babies, but we had enough money to afford a fifth. I was delighted. And the older children were thrilled.’
(In 2020 Steve took voluntary redundancy from the Post Office so he could help care for his parents.)
Family fun revolved around the countryside. ‘We couldn’t afford holidays so I would pack up a picnic and we’d all head off to the fields,’ says Nancy. ‘I would give the kids a bucket each. They would collect blackberries which we’d make into jam.’
DECIMALISATION TIME
1971
The UK and Republic of Ireland switch to decimal currency on February 15. The same year saw an escalation of the bloody conflict in Northern Ireland which led to around 4,000 deaths over 30 years of violence.
Nancy jokes that a day out on the QE2 with their youngest son, is the closest they’ve ever been to cruising. Pictured: Nancy and Eric with Steve
A day out on the QE2 — then Britain’s premier ocean liner — with youngest son Steve. ‘It’s the closest we’ve ever got to cruising,’ laughs Nancy. ‘The QE2 was docked in Southampton and opened its doors to visitors. We had a fantastic day out. I could not get over the luxury.’
They made the trip to Southampton in their brand new car — a white Morris Marina. Nancy had proudly passed her test in 1964, aged 44, on her first attempt. ‘I never believed my age should stop me doing something I wanted.’
HATCHERISM AND THE IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE
1980
A year after Britain elected Margaret Thatcher as its first female Prime Minister, armed men stormed the Iranian Embassy in London.
Eric and Nancy (pictured left) celebrated their ruby anniversary, as Britain elected Margaret Thatcher (pictured right) as its first female Prime Minister
The couple celebrate their ruby wedding anniversary with a huge family party. One of their favourite presents is a Teasmade — an automatic tea-maker.
‘At last I didn’t have to get out of bed in the morning to bring Nancy her cuppa,’ says Eric.
Nancy is now treasurer of the local football club, a member of the Women’s Institute and a pillar of her village church.
Eric works hard keeping the garden in shape.
THE ROYAL FAMILY’S ‘ANNUS HORRIBILIS
1992
After Windsor Castle catches fire and is partly destroyed, and three royal marriages collapse, the Queen describes 1992 as her ‘annus horribilis’.
The Queen described 1992 as her ‘annus horribilis’, after Windsor Castle was partly destroyed (pictured) and three royal marriages collapsed
Eric (pictured, with Nancy) revealed that he vowed never to fly again after being scared witless
After Eric retired from the Somerset Rivers Authority in 1985 following some 35 years as a clerk of works, the couple have more time to enjoy themselves.
By now in their 70s, they holiday regularly in Torquay and Dartmouth in Devon.
But foreign travel is out of the question after a trip to Amsterdam.
‘I’d never been in a plane before and I was scared witless,’ Eric admits. ‘I vowed I would never fly again.’
Their hands are full with grandchildren — they go on to have 11 — with 28 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great-grandchildren, nearly all of whom are less than a 30-minute drive away.
FRESH HOPE IN A NEW MILLENNIUM
2000
The start of the new millennium is celebrated in style with spectacular firework displays around the world.
Eric and Nancy welcomed their great-grandson Charlie in 1999, masking the sadness of suffering the loss of their second son
The joy of great-grandson Charlie (grandson of daughter Angela) arriving in 1999 masks the sadness the couple are suffering at losing their second son.
Derek was diagnosed with leukaemia in his 40s. A construction worker, he had moved to Manchester when his first marriage ended. He was just 47 when he died in 1998, leaving four children. ‘It was terrible,’ says Nancy. ‘He struggled for a year. We just wanted to scoop him up and take care of him but he was so far away. It was an awful death. We thought we would never get over it.’
Their big family help see the couple through.