When two hearts collide

One thing is for sure - Arthur Beales is as devoted to his sweetheart, Elizabeth, or ‘Bet’ as he calls her, as he was when they first met, close to 70 years ago at the Criterion Ballroom (The ‘Crit’) in the city centre.

Cuipd’s arrows struck him hard - he knew instantly that Bet was the girl for him and within three days had asked her to marry him.

However, he had to wait just a little bit longer than that (about half a year) before he could slip a ring on his beloved Bet’s finger.

There was no great fanfare, no big white wedding and not huge expense: It was post war in Northern Ireland and there wasn’t much money around.

Bet wore a blue two-piece suit and Arthur wore his uniform.

The first year or so of married life the couple spent in London, but the London man returned to ‘Derry’ with his wife before the birth of their first child.

“I met the wife in the Criterion Dance Hall down on Foyle Street.

“This was a Friday that I met her in the dance hall...I took her out Saturday and Sunday I took her out to Brooke Park and I asked her to marry me, on the third day.

“She said ‘No, you can’t marry me because you are a Protestant and you have to change’.

“So I did. I got permission off the Captain to do the course and learn the main parts of it and about three months afterwards I was accepted,” he said.

Asked what attracted him to Elizabeth he said it was her “nice kind nature”.

“And her understanding. She was very loving and I knew she liked me.

“There were plenty of girls when I was in the Navy and over in America and Norway and different places like that, all different girls, as the saying goes ‘one in every port’, you know?

“But I took her as she was and liked her because she was a decent girl and everything she spoke was the truth, and she annoyed nobody and tried to keep friendly with everybody, you know?

“I did ask her to marry me and she kind of accepted me, half and half, but she would not accept me until I changed.

“In those days religion was very strong. It is not now.

“So, when I went over to London and back home on leave, I went to borrow money to get married.

“I wanted to come out of the Navy and you don’t get much wages in the Navy at the time, and I had to borrow about £20 from an aunt.

“They thought it was one of those ‘gunshot’ weddings, you know? I had to explain to them, so none of them was at the wedding.

“None of my family was there,” he said.

A small handful of Elizabeth’s family attended the couple’s marriage in Long Tower...

Asked if he felt lonely without his family, Arthur said: “No, not really, because I felt that I was indulging her. It did not really worry me...

“My wedding day was on a Sunday and it was in the Long Tower that we got married.

“There was what I would term a women’s confraternity in, you know?

“So there was all women there... and the best part about it was they were up in the balcony of this church smiling down on us.

“There was girls up there that used to go to The Crit looking down at me,” he said, smiling at the memory.

The reception was held at the house and the guests included Arthur’s mother- and father-in-law, two uncles, two brother-in-laws, two sisters-in-laws and three or four neighbours.

“We had no wedding photographs and there was no wedding frocks either, no white gown.

“This was 1946 and just after the war, so clothing coupons were scarce.

“Bet did not get married in white, she got married in a two-piece. It was blue and the bridesmaid was her sister, Minnie, and my bestman was the brother-in-law, Charlie.

“I wore my uniform because I was still in the Navy you see,” he said.

The day after their marriage the couple moved to London because Arthur was still in the Navy and had to report to barracks the following week.

“So we had another party over there with my family.

“They were excited and just took to her.