Ray and Theresa Burrows celebrate diamond wedding and a life together in the Stamford and Ketton area
A couple who have served thousands of drinks over the years will be toasting their own celebration with family.
Theresa and Ray Burrows are familiar faces to many in the community, having run The Northwick Arms pub in Ketton, and then the Ketton Club in High Street.
They now live in Mountbatten Avenue in Stamford, having also made Easton-on-the-Hill and South Witham their home in previous years.
Theresa met Ray in 1962 when he was serving in the Royal Navy and was stationed in Portsmouth to work as a guide on HMS Victory.
Theresa was holidaying with her friend Janet and the pair made a dozen visits to the ship - not because of Ray, but because of a colleague who looked like the American film actor Troy Donahue.
But during those visits, Theresa and Ray struck up a bond and continued to see one another.
They married on Saturday October 3, 1964 in St Thomas More Catholic Church near Theresa’s home in Dulwich, South London.
“I would do it all again tomorrow,” said Theresa, looking through their wedding photos.
“I thoroughly enjoyed our wedding day - it was lovely.”
Having come to the end of his eight-year stint in the Navy, Ray became a burner at the cement works in his home village of Ketton, and on marrying Theresa left her job with the National Westminster Bank in Threadneedle Street in the City of London.
The newlyweds lived in Easton-on-the-Hill and their first daughter, Amanda, was soon born, followed by Angela. The girls attended St Augustine’s School in Stamford, and Theresa worked there as a dinner lady.
Meanwhile, in 1974, Theresa and Ray were approached about taking over as landlords of The Northwick Arms in Ketton High Street, and after completing some training at the brewery in Tadcaster, near York, they lived and worked at the village pub for 17-and-a-half years.
“My grandma lived with us and she used to come down into the pub to tell people the sports results,” said Theresa.
“She loved her sports - football, cricket, everything really - but she hadn’t got her head around video recorders. I remember an occasion when someone said they had recorded a boxing match to watch later, and Grandma announced ‘Oh, Joe Bugner won!’ without realising it might spoil their post-drink plans.”
“We had good times running the pub,” Ray added. “It was a way of life rather than a job.
“There was a lot of banter but people were well behaved even when they were pie-eyed with drink, and we had a ‘no swearing’ policy.”
The couple gained notoriety for their ‘no nonsense’ fish and chips, which they served both at The Northwick Arms and later at The Ketton Club. They even had a visitor from Australia come in to try them, following a recommendation.
Ray and Theresa held the stewardship of the Ketton Club in High Street for 11-and-a-half years, until Ray had a knee-replacement and they decided it was time to retire.
Their daughters have kept them busy in retirement with six grandchildren - five girls and a boy - and a family get-together at the Collyweston Slater is planned for their diamond celebration.
As for their chosen tipples, Theresa will be raising a vodka and soda to toast their long and happy marriage, and Ray a gin and tonic.
