LOCAL theatre legends, Humphrey and Gill Barnes, will be celebrating 60 years of marriage next month on 3rd April.
The couple are well known in the town as stalwarts of the Frome Memorial Theatre Company (FMTC) and for their community work with Rotary and Inner Wheel.
Their romance started in 1958 when Humphrey “chatted up” Gill after a rehearsal of the Frome Amateur Operatic Society – now the FMTC – of which they were both members.
And 60 years on from their wedding in 1961, which took place at St John’s Church Frome on Easter Monday April 3rd 1961, the couple are still members of FMTC, and have three children – Joanne, Heidy, and Sally, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild and two on the way.
“Being tolerant!” said Gill about the secret to 60 years of marriage. “You’ve got to give and take. And I realised at a very early stage that if I wanted this marriage to work, I would have to join the operatic and stay with the operatic, as that was and is his life!
“It’s unbelievable to reach 60 years. We can’t really get our heads around the fact that we are over 80 years old now.”
“We’ve never had a cross word,” joked Humphrey, who won the first ever Frome Times Person of the Year award in 2009. “But yes, give and take. And we’ve had this long association with FMTC, Rotary, Inner Wheel – we enjoy doing this together. We both have similar interests, so predominantly we’ve been together, doing things together, all these years. I probably won’t swap her in now!”
After initially meeting each other in 1957 at the local tennis club, it wasn’t until 1958 that Gill and Humphrey properly noticed on another.
“A friend of mine persuaded me to go and see ‘Love From Judy’ at the operatic in the early part of 1958,” explained Gill. “We were in the front row and I said to my friend about Humphrey, “Oh he’s not bad.” And she said, “Oh he’s too young for you!” – he’s nine months younger than me, so he’s my toyboy really!
“Later that year in August I joined the operatic society and after one of the rehearsals we went to the pub at the top of Bath Street, which used to be called the Lamb, and Humphrey chatted me up – the rest is history.”
About how they will be celebrating, Gill said, “We’re not going to be able to have everybody together – so my eldest daughter Joanne is drawing up a rota for people to come see us – she’s said that we have to make sure that we have plenty to drink!
“And once restrictions are lifted in June we are planning a big family party – and we shall have two more great-grandchildren by then – so there will be plenty to celebrate!!”
