Oliver Benford and his Wife Mary at their Golden Wedding 1970

Oliver Benford now aged 70, remembers his wedding 50 years ago vividly… he had to cycle fifteen miles in the snow from Kettering to Wadenhoe church.

“The bicycle was my only means of transport in those days,” he said at his home 20, Duke Street, Burton Latimer. “It may have been a hard ride but I always remember that the sun was shining when we left the church”.

Before his marriage, Mr. Benford attended Stamford Road School, Kettering, and from an early age had his heart set on being a hairdresser. When he left school he began a hairdressing apprenticeship in Kettering, and moved to Burton Latimer in 1922, where he set up his own business in Duke Street.

Between 1929 and 1941 he was a freelance reporter and photographer for the “Evening Telegraph”, and in 1946 became local correspondent for the “Kettering Leader”. For seven years he was president and chairman Kettering Hairdressers’ Federation, but retired in 1967.

Mr. Benford was one of the first aid raid wardens during the Second World War. In 1938 he became an instructor and trained many Kettering wardens.

In his spare time he is a specialist at giving monologues and performs occasionally for local societies. His wife, Margaret, aged 71 has been a faithful housekeeper for 50 years. Said Mr. Benford. “It doesn’t seem as long as 50 years. I still feel reasonably young and healthy.”

The newspaper reporter seems to have been unaware that 'Oliver' Benford had been known by his middle name Jack ever since he moved to Burton Latimer.