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| Yorkshire love story - and the winners are Brenda and Fred | Yorkshire love story - and the winners are Brenda and Fred |
| (4 months later) | |
| Two months ago, the Guardian Northerner flagged up Barnsley Civic theatre's search for the Great Yorkshire Love story, in the tradition of the Brontes, Winifred Holtby's heroines or the passionate Storm family created on the Whitby coast by Leo Walmsley. | Two months ago, the Guardian Northerner flagged up Barnsley Civic theatre's search for the Great Yorkshire Love story, in the tradition of the Brontes, Winifred Holtby's heroines or the passionate Storm family created on the Whitby coast by Leo Walmsley. |
| The prize was a pair of tickets for the theatre's Christmas show this year, The Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Andersen whose theme is the steadfastness and if necessary self-sacrifice of love. | The prize was a pair of tickets for the theatre's Christmas show this year, The Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Andersen whose theme is the steadfastness and if necessary self-sacrifice of love. |
| We have a winner; or more appropriately a pair of them, in Brenda Loy and Fred Wilcock whose story was entered by Brenda as a modern parallel to the romance of Anderson's one-legged tin soldier and his love for a ballerina made of paper. The many twists and turns of the toys' story was matched, in the view of judges from the Civic's staff and the production's Peut-être Theatre, by the commitment of 82-year old Brenda and 81-year old Fred, despite six decades apart. Brenda, of Hoyland Common, says: | We have a winner; or more appropriately a pair of them, in Brenda Loy and Fred Wilcock whose story was entered by Brenda as a modern parallel to the romance of Anderson's one-legged tin soldier and his love for a ballerina made of paper. The many twists and turns of the toys' story was matched, in the view of judges from the Civic's staff and the production's Peut-être Theatre, by the commitment of 82-year old Brenda and 81-year old Fred, despite six decades apart. Brenda, of Hoyland Common, says: |
| We were both born in the small village of Upper Hoyland. As we grew up together, Fred would hold my hand and take me to the Sunshine School, a wooden infant school down the hill. When we became teenagers we would occasionally go to the pictures and say our goodnights in a special doorway. | We were both born in the small village of Upper Hoyland. As we grew up together, Fred would hold my hand and take me to the Sunshine School, a wooden infant school down the hill. When we became teenagers we would occasionally go to the pictures and say our goodnights in a special doorway. |
At 17, however, Fred joined the army and Brenda moved away from Yorkshire to live with her sister and brother-in-law who served in the Royal Air Force. Both met new sweethearts and enjoyed happy marriages, Brenda with a local lad called Len and Fred with a young woman he met called Dorothy. Each couple returned to Yorkshire and for years they lived unwittingly fewer than 30 miles apart. | At 17, however, Fred joined the army and Brenda moved away from Yorkshire to live with her sister and brother-in-law who served in the Royal Air Force. Both met new sweethearts and enjoyed happy marriages, Brenda with a local lad called Len and Fred with a young woman he met called Dorothy. Each couple returned to Yorkshire and for years they lived unwittingly fewer than 30 miles apart. |
| Scroll forward 50 years, and Brenda says: | Scroll forward 50 years, and Brenda says: |
| Sadly, Len died in 1998, so I kept myself busy by arranging a chat club and started working at St Luke's Hospice shop in Chapeltown. Then, one day a couple knocked on the door of the hospice. I asked if I could help them and the man said: 'Yes, you could ask us in for a cup of tea and a biscuit.' I didn't recognise him, but then he said he was Fred. | Sadly, Len died in 1998, so I kept myself busy by arranging a chat club and started working at St Luke's Hospice shop in Chapeltown. Then, one day a couple knocked on the door of the hospice. I asked if I could help them and the man said: 'Yes, you could ask us in for a cup of tea and a biscuit.' I didn't recognise him, but then he said he was Fred. |
| He and Dorothy and Brenda duly had their cup of tea and then they went their separate ways again. But the following year, Dorothy died and Fred came back to Hoyland, unwell and in search of old friends. Brenda dropped in to help him through his recovery and they carried on meeting when he was better. Ever so gently, it was back to those Sunshine school and teenage doorway days. | He and Dorothy and Brenda duly had their cup of tea and then they went their separate ways again. But the following year, Dorothy died and Fred came back to Hoyland, unwell and in search of old friends. Brenda dropped in to help him through his recovery and they carried on meeting when he was better. Ever so gently, it was back to those Sunshine school and teenage doorway days. |
| Not a story with the darkness of Wuthering Heights, the torment of Villette or the tragedies of South Riding and Three Fevers; but pantomime time is all the better for a happy ending and Brenda and Fred have had one. She says: | Not a story with the darkness of Wuthering Heights, the torment of Villette or the tragedies of South Riding and Three Fevers; but pantomime time is all the better for a happy ending and Brenda and Fred have had one. She says: |
| Eventually we arranged a weekend in Leeds, where Fred lives, and a weekend in Hoyland. We've been doing that ever since, and are quite content to spend as much valuable time together remembering our childhood and our loved ones. We are enjoying our new lives together. | Eventually we arranged a weekend in Leeds, where Fred lives, and a weekend in Hoyland. We've been doing that ever since, and are quite content to spend as much valuable time together remembering our childhood and our loved ones. We are enjoying our new lives together. |
The couple will have the best seats in the house at The Tin Soldier's opening as their prize, along with a meal, and their story will be told in the theatre programme. Ian Morley, theatre programmer at The Civic, says: | The couple will have the best seats in the house at The Tin Soldier's opening as their prize, along with a meal, and their story will be told in the theatre programme. Ian Morley, theatre programmer at The Civic, says: |
| We're thankful to everyone who sent us their love stories, but there could be only one winner. Brenda and Fred's story includes a traditional courtship in a Yorkshire village, a lifetime apart as military service separated them, and a happy reunion many years later. It's a fairy-tale, but a real life one. | We're thankful to everyone who sent us their love stories, but there could be only one winner. Brenda and Fred's story includes a traditional courtship in a Yorkshire village, a lifetime apart as military service separated them, and a happy reunion many years later. It's a fairy-tale, but a real life one. |
| The Tin Soldier is at the Barnsley Civic from Wednesday 12 December - when Brenda and Fred will preside - to Sunday 30 December. Booking online here. | The Tin Soldier is at the Barnsley Civic from Wednesday 12 December - when Brenda and Fred will preside - to Sunday 30 December. Booking online here. |
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