Read all about it! Couple who met through Express & Star ad celebrate 25th anniversary
They met through the pages of the Express & Star – and 25 years after getting married Linda and Paul Bate are still going strong.
Linda had an advert published on her birthday, November 30 1992, asking for a “fun loving” man aged 28-40, and it didn’t take long for Paul to get in touch.
The pair met at a pub in Dudley on December 18 and began their whirlwind romance. “He answered it and had to send off a letter for me. He didn’t send a picture but I met him anyway,” Linda said.
“We went to the pub, we were just getting to know each other and it took off.”
The Netherton couple tied the knot on June 4 1994 at Dudley Wood Methodist Church on Quarry Road and they haven’t looked back since.
Linda said: "I didn't know what to expect, I just turned up and met a stranger, it wouldn't happen these days, but it was a good thing, we thank the E&S for putting the ad in, we didn't have social media so it was the way to do it.
"I broke up from a 12-year relationship when I put the ad in, they were a thing to do at the time, there wasn't much in ways of computers and that."
She added: "He proposed in the April in the pub, it was a shock.
"I thought he was joking, but he obviously wasn't – there wasn't a ring, he just asked if I wanted to marry him.
"He's very loyal and genuine, I can totally trust him and that's important.
"It rained on the day we got married, but it was a lovely occasion."
To celebrate their milestone the pair are travelling to St Ives in Cornwall for a week-long holiday.
Linda says the secret to their successful marriage is sticking at it through the arguments and working on their relationship.
She said: "We work our way through our problems, we're always there for each other and don't run away at the first argument.
"I hope we can keep going for another 25 years."
