My future wife actually saw me before I saw her, as I was doing sound at the Doncaster Folk Festival in 1970.

Shortly afterwards Geoff (now of Braken Rigg) went on a trip to France, and came back besotted with a girl, Val, that he had met on the trip. They sat in the pub billing and cooing over each other (do people still do that?) and I sat bored to tears, as its not much of a spectator sport. As they left, I said to Val "Haven't you got any friends you could bring along for me to talk to?".

Meanwhile....

The following day Val is out shopping, and meets Sue, who she used to go to school with, but is now at Art College. "Come down to the pub tonight and meet this fella I met on my trip".

So the next night I go down the pub, and there's Geoff and Val and this other girl, Sue. "Gosh", I think "she took me at my word and brought a friend". We got talking, found we had a lot in common, particularly a sense of humour and a love of folk music, and ten days later I was taking her to the Jug O'Punch in Birmingham, where she did a floor spot.

Three years later we were married, and 35 years later she was dead. It was our 31st wedding anniversary yesterday.

Here's a picture of Sue