A COUPLE who met because of a bet are celebrating 60 years of marriage.
John Hale, 85, and wife Brenda, 79, plan to spend a week reminiscing on the seafront at Eastbourne - but it could have all been so different if not for a cheeky gamble.
Mrs Hale recalls: "I was the eldest of five sisters and I had a lovely maiden name of Brenda Batty.
"Older people in Grays may remember the big furniture store where I worked - it was called Horncastle, on the High Street, next to the church.
"John was with a friend looking in the window at some records - he was 22 at the time and in the Army.
"My boss bet me half a crown I couldn't entice the lads into the shop and he was right - I didn't. But I told Mr Horncastle, Don't worry, he'll be back' - and I was right!"
They were married at the Church of England church on Victoria Avenue, Grays.
Mr Hale worked for 35 years at the Thames Case paper mill in Purfleet as a laboratory assistant.
The couple, who now live in Alf Loewen Court, Chadwell St Mary, have a son, Geoffrey, 58, who lives in the American state of Texas, as well as two grandsons David, 28 and John, 26, and a granddaughter, Ruth, 23.
Geoffrey and his wife paid a special visit from Texas as part of the couple's anniversary celebrations.
As a gambling lady, Mrs Hale tipped marriages to last between couples who "don't go to bed on an argument".
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