The Most Important Decisions Are Made For You.

                                Heather decided that she did not like working in an office and went back to Tesco’s in the village this time working full time. She enjoyed the customers and the staff who were all her friends and the wages were better too. I working at PK Frozen foods  in the day and at the Bull and Dog in the evenings so we did not get much time to go out so when we did we made sure we enjoyed ourselves.  We did not have a lot of time for courting as we seemed to be working all the hours we could to save up.

                                So we said we would plan a holiday away with Heathers mate Helen and her husband Chris. We went out when we could together so it seemed like a good idea. We all agreed that the Isle of Man was somewhere we would like to try and we wrote off to get details of the ferries and hotels. We chose the hotel and were looking forward to a great time when Heather and Helen said we are not going to the Isle of Man for the first two weeks in June, It is TT fortnight. They really were adamant that we could not go there then.  So instead we plumbed instead for two weeks at Butlins in Barry Island.

                              We had booked the holiday and were looking forward to it when one evening Heather’s dad suggested instead of a holiday why don’t you make it your honeymoon? We were flabbergasted, how could we sort it all out in under six months? We can’t get married so quick, everyone will thing Heather is pregnant. Where will we live? How do I afford a wedding? It was going to take some talking about. We thought about it, discussed it with the families, eventually after a week or so we came round to the idea and started planning a spring wedding.

                             It was late in 1973 and we could not agree on the church we wanted. My family church was St Michaels old Aughton and Heathers family church was Christ Church Aughton. After a discussion Heather and I decided we could have the wedding we wanted at the register office in Ormskirk and not have a family disagreement. It was to be the 31^st  May 1974, a Friday, we got the last appointment of the day, the holiday was booked to start on the Saturday morning.

                           One night when I was behind the bar at the Bull and Dog, I recognised two of the customers and said hello. It was Chris Hedges and Peter Charnock. Peter was the manager at Hedges Frozen food company in Scarisbrick. I got chatting to them about their families and how they were doing. Peter asked what I was doing and I said I was getting married soon and I was at PK. “Why don’t you come and have a chat with our transport manager? I am sure we can find a job for you if you want one and the pay is a lot better too” Chris offered. I said that I would think about it and let him know.  A couple weeks later I was returning some frozen vegetables that PK had borrowed from Hedges and Peter was in the yard. He said “come and see the transport manager.” I went in to the office and Chris Hedges came over, he shook my hand and took me in to the office of the transport manager. He introduced me and left  me to talk to Derek, as I had found out this was his name. He told me all about the job and the hours and most important of all to me how  much I could earn. He offered me a job driving ten ton TK Bedfords for Hedges. The wages would be thirty pounds a week plus a bonus. I went straight back to PK  and handed in my notice. I was to start at Hedges a week on the following Monday.

                                       Next thing was to find somewhere to live, I did not want to start married life in my mum’s home. We applied for council houses but were told the list was five years for couples with no children. So we tried the local land lords for a private let, they all had no vacancies. Then we had a real bit of luck. Two of our friends, Sue and Dave, lived in the flat over the chemist, Cores, in Burscough village and they were buying a house in Victoria Street opposite Stanley Court. The flat was right opposite the Tesco that Heather worked in. Itwas a two bedroom first floor flat with coal fires and big kitchen and living room. Just right for what we wanted. Sue and Dave recommended us for the flat and good enough we got it in the middle of April, six weeks before we were getting married.

                                       Planning the reception and finding a venue was a real family affair. We looked around for a large hall that we could have all day on the Friday and eventually found a venue that ticked all the boxes in Lathom women’s institute hall. I was in easy travelling distance from our homes and the register office we could have music and the use of a kitchen if we wanted. Heathers dad Ken and my Mate Phil organised the bar with proper barrels and pumps, Mum and Val Heaps from the Royal Hotel were to organise the catering. We had a local lad doing a disco for the evening do.

                               Mum volunteered to make Heathers dress and they spent many hours round all the shops looking for the right material. I bought a new suit from my mum’s Littlewoods catalogue. Helen was asked to be Heathers matron of honour and her youngest sister Morag was to be brides maid.  My mum made their dresses too. I asked Helens husband Chris to be my best man.  

Here I was with a new job, a new home, just about to get married and all sorted in under six months. Decisions really are made for you.