Move over your majesty - Oldham has its own platinum couple

Date published: 13 November 2017


The Queen and Prince Philip celebrate an incredible achievement on November 20 – their seventieth wedding anniversary.

But Oldham has its own platinum couple – Harry and Joan Smith from Denshaw.

The pair, 91 and 92, whose eyes met across a crowded room in a cotton factory more than 70 years ago, responded to a challenge from the Mayor of Oldham, Cllr Shadab Qumer, to find a local couple whose longstanding love has kept them together as long as the royals.

So impressed was the Mayor by their enduring love he decided to pay them a special visit, presenting them with a beautiful bunch of flowers and sharing tea and biscuits.

A married man of 17 years himself, Cllr Qumer asked Harry what the secret to staying together was and his answer was unequivocal.

“I’ll tell you what,” Harry said. “If you do as your wife tells you, you’ll be ok!”

The couple have three sons, six grandchildren and three great grandchildren and have always lived in the same place, just over the hill from Grains Bar and next door to the house where Joan grew up.

But how did they fall in love?

“I used to walk past her every day in the factory,” Harry said with a glint in his eye. “She always had her eye on me!”

Eventually they got talking and, after falling in love, Harry popped the big question.

“It wasn’t very romantic,” Joan said. “He just said ‘let’s get married’ and we did!”

Now in their 90s the pair still enjoy an active life, socialising and doing their own shopping.

Joan enjoys knitting, although she doesn’t do it so much anymore, and used to be a keen supporter of Friamere Cricket Club which can be seen from their living room window at home.

Harry, meanwhile, was a keen Oldham Roughyeds fan, supporting the team closely when they played at Watersheddings.

As well as working throughout his life, he kept pigs on their land and was always a keen amateur farmer.

They celebrated their seventieth anniversary on 14 June.

Cllr Qumer said: “It was a pleasure to meet Harry and Joan.

“They were such a nice couple and a fantastic comedy double act, bouncing off each other all the time, and you can see they still have fun. I think that must be the key.

“It was an honour to meet them and hope they are an inspiration to everyone.”

Cllr Qumer has been married to the Mayoress, Sobia, for 17 years.