The First Seventy Years: 33 – A Threat To Wedding Plans
...Soon after leaving the suburbs of Nottingham we hit a huge blanket of fog. We found ourselves riding past the cars. We were soon riding at the front of a long column of vehicles and continued to do so until reaching Southwell. What it did to our lungs is anybody’s guess...
Eric Biddulph goes on a bike ride with his bride-to-be.
To read earlier chapters of Eric’s autobiography please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/the_first_seventy_years/
Just before I joined the staff of the Midland Bank I had met Mary Staines at Coleman’s Dancing School in Nottingham. I asked her for a dance and ended the evening asking for a date. During the next few months we continued the relationship.
By the autumn of 1960 I had persuaded her to come with me on a weekend cycle ride of some twenty kilometres to Southwell Youth Hostel. Soon after leaving the suburbs of Nottingham we hit a huge blanket of fog. We found ourselves riding past the cars. We were soon riding at the front of a long column of vehicles and continued to do so until reaching Southwell. What it did to our lungs is anybody’s guess. What an effect the Clean Air Act has had on bringing these unhealthy and dangerous conditions to an end.
By now I had my feet firmly under the table of the Staines household. Easter 1962 we became engaged with the wedding planned for the following November. Plans were well advanced by the September.
In early October world events emerged to dominate the news in no uncertain manner. US spy planes flying over Cuba had identified missile sites. The US Government accused the Soviet Union of building the sites with a view to targeting the USA. The Cuban Missile Crisis was about to be played out.
Around 20 October, just two weeks before the wedding day, the US identified Soviet ships in the Eastern Atlantic, which it said were carrying missiles destined for Cuba. President Kennedy issued an ultimatum; turn the ships round or they would be attacked. For several more days the ships continued sailing westwards. The whole world held its breath.
Were we about to be plunged into another World War? Would I be recalled as an RAF reservist? Would the wedding have to be cancelled? Mary became edgy quite naturally, given the gravity of the situation.
Around 27th October, 1962, the ships changed course. A huge sign of relief swept the world.
The wedding took place as planned on 3 November, 1962. A brilliant sunny day. Our families were relieved. We were able to enjoy the day. A train ride down to London to our secret honeymoon destination followed by a few days in Paris. The trauma of the past few weeks was finally laid to rest
