Kirkfieldbank couple are still on the love train after 60 years

Published: Wednesday 21 September 2022

Christine and Norman Edge with Provost Margaret Cooper and Deputy Lord Lieutenant Miller Stoddart.

A couple who met at a railway station have been full steam ahead for wedded bliss ever since.

Norman and Christine Edge met at Lanark station when he was a fireman on the steam trains and she was travelling to her secretarial job in Petigrew and Stephens in Glasgow - and have now celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

After his first sight of Christine, Norman, from Thankerton, would swap his shifts to ensure he was on the 7:53 from Lanark to Glasgow so he could see Kirkfieldbank girl Christine every day, eventually plucking up the courage to ask her out.

They enjoyed a four-year courtship that involved many trips on another form of transport – Norman’s motorbike – to visit all of Christine’s family in Kirkfieldbank and Glasgow, and even travelled to Wales on two wheels to watch Scotland play an international.

The couple married in the Royal Oak Hotel, Lanark, in 1962, and honeymooned in Lake Como in Italy, travelling this time by train.

Seven years later, their daughter, Maureen, was born, followed in 1971 by their son, David, and they now have two adored grandchildren in Abby (23) and 18-year-old Lauren.

Norman worked as a train driver for 50 years and loved his job, ending his career with Virgin where he drove the east line high-speed trains. On his final shift, from Aberdeen to Edinburgh, Christine travelled up to Aberdeen and stayed overnight so she could sit with him in the cab on the trip back south – and later admitted that she had never been so scared in her life!

Norman loved his sport, having been a gifted footballer and being forced to give up playing with Carluke Rovers because of his railway shifts and also showing his talents on the badminton court for many years.

However, in their private life, the couple spent most of their time in their garden, to the extent that their home became seen by many as the focal point in Kirkfieldbank, commonly known as “the house with the flowers”!

Over the years they welcomed thousands of visitors to their garden, making hosts of friends along the way and even featured in the Beechgrove Garden in 1999.

The visitors this month were well-wishers for their Diamond Wedding Anniversary, however, with their family being joined by South Lanarkshire Provost Margaret Cooper, who presented the couple with flowers, a special bottle of whisky and a certificate on behalf of the council, and Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Lanarkshire Millar Stoddart, who also presented them with a certificate to mark their achievement.

And one thing was evident to all during their visit: although this couple put down roots together 60 years ago, they are definitely still on the right track!