Northampton couple who lost their other halves found love again and now celebrate silver wedding anniversary

Les and Penny Kilworth first met on a July trip to Cornwall in the early nineties. Les, from Leicester and now 96, was sat opposite Peggy, now 90, and they began chatting.

During the trip, the pair played bowls and went for walks, and agreed to meet up again when they returned to Northampton.

“She was a pretty lady and things went from there,” wrote Les in a piece about their marriage published in the Chron 20 years ago.

Both lived in Northampton and that’s where the courting began.

Les, a one-time rep for Evo-Stick, would buy Peggy flowers every week and call his new love "princess".

He proposed to Peggy, originally from Luton, after inviting her on a bowls trip.

He got on one knee while on the coach, and Peggy waited three miles before she answered ‘yes’.

Both were previously married but widowed. “I was alone for 15 years,” said Peggy, who worked at Debenhams for several years. “I didn’t want to be alone anymore.”

Peggy and Les married at St Luke’s Church in Duston on February 27, 1993. They were 65 and 71 years old respectively, at the time.

“The church was full. A lot of Les’s bowling friends were there, as were our families.”

The happy couple spent their honeymoon in China, where they walked the Great Wall, saw the Terracotta Army and visited the Forbidden City.

Fifteen years later, on May 6, 2008, the two would renew their vows while aboard the MS Sea Princess as they embarked on a Mediterranean cruise.

When asked what the secret to their successful marriage is, Peggy said: “The thing is we have always agreed on everything. We both make sure we want to do it and then we do it.

“If I’m honest I don’t think we have ever had an argument.

“We have always done everything together.”

Les and Penny lived together in Hunters Close, Kingsthorpe before Les was moved to Glenside Residential Care Home in December because of his dementia, which he has had for the last six years.

On the couple’s silver wedding anniversary, the staff at the care home organised a party for Les and Penny so they could celebrate their marriage.