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Golden wedding couple from Bearley met at primary school and married in 1974




DEREK and Jean Bull met at Rowington Primary School 64 years ago. They got married in 1974, have distant family connections to royalty and celebrate their golden wedding anniversary this Saturday.

Then and now: Derek and Jean Bull, left, at their wedding in 1974 and, right, in the run-up to their golden wedding anniversary this Saturday.
Then and now: Derek and Jean Bull, left, at their wedding in 1974 and, right, in the run-up to their golden wedding anniversary this Saturday.

The couple – who have lived in Bearley for over 38 years – can trace their ancestry back many centuries: Jean’s 15th great-grandfather was King James IV of Scotland and Derek’s 15th great-grandfather was Sir Charles Savage. Both fought and were killed on opposing sides at the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513.

Derek, aged 72 and Jean, 71, knew each other at primary school and for a while shared the same classroom and both have families that have lived in Bearley since Victorian times.

They married at St Laurence’s Church, Rowington, and held their reception at the New Inn, Hatton, before enjoying a honeymoon in north Wales.

“I’ve done a lot of research into our two families and found that some of our ancestors sailed on the Mayflower to America. My research has also identified 110,000 ancestors worldwide in America and Australia,” Derek said.

Both Derek and Jean worked at Land Rover in Gaydon. Derek started in 1969 and Jean joined the company when her sister left to have a baby

“I worked on advanced car design projects but couldn’t discuss them with other people. Cars were a lot more simple then and we drew on metal plates using pencils, everything is done on computer now. Jean was in sales and marketing and on the production line and Land Rovers were shipped all over the world. We worked a total of 32 years each before being offered early retirement 20 years ago when Ford was in charge of the company so I’m very grateful to Henry Ford for that,” said Derek.

Derek and Jean Bull celebrate their golden wedding this week.
Derek and Jean Bull celebrate their golden wedding this week.

They were both volunteers at Hidcote Manor Garden with Jean working in administration and Derek as a garden guide. The pair also helped raise £4,000 for Hidcote Gardens through film shows which Derek hosted, something he also did to raise money for St Mary’s Church in Bearley. For a number of years he was editor of the village newsletter, the Bearley Beacon.

Jean has a red MGF which she bought new in 2002 and has only covered 20,000 miles so it’s the couple’s fun car when the sun is out. She’s called it Mick after the lead singer of Simply Red, Mick Hucknall, which is one of her favourite bands.

And the secret to a successful and happy marriage?

“Sharing things and doing things together which is why we love country walks, the countryside and the National Trust. We share a love of Gilbert and Sullivan and we enjoy travel and going to Dorset and Devon for holidays,” Derek said.



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