Te Puke couple's 60 years of wedded bliss

Roy and Anne Baldock celebrated 60 years of marriage on June 18. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Tolerance and working together - the glue that has bound Anne and Roy Baldock together in marriage for 60 years.

"There's no point working against each other," Anne says.

The couple marked their diamond wedding anniversary this week and will celebrate with a family get together tomorrow. Roy and Anne were married in Katikati Presbyterian Church but have spent most of their married life in the Te Puke district.

Anne was born and raised in Katikati.

"I always got told if I complained about anything, 'just remember when you were born, we brought you home from Tauranga to Works Rd and we were living in a tent and getting 12 [shillings] and 6 [pence] a week'. You knew better than to complain to my mother about things."

Roy was born in Eltham, and was 3 when his family moved to the Eastern Bay of Plenty, first to Awakeri and then Thornton.

Anne worked at Wallace Supplies in Katikati, then Farmers Trading Co in Katikati before moving to Farmers Trading Co in Waihī.

Roy farmed in the Katikati area with his brother before he too moved to Waihī and the couple met at a Caledonian dance.

Neither of them can remember too much about their first meeting.

They were together for about a year before getting engaged, then married six months later.

It was a very wet day.

"It rained and rained and rained," Anne said. "The photographer arrived from Waihī and said 'pity about the rain'.

"But when we came out of the church, it had stopped raining so we went over to the house of the couple I had worked for at Wallace Supplies and had photos taken there."

After a short honeymoon in Kaikohe, the newlyweds set up home in Waihī where they lived for 11 years.

They then moved to Te Matai Rd, outside Te Puke to farm, at first renting a house on the property.

It was seven years before they were able to move into their own home on the farm.
Initially farming both dairy and sheep, the difficulty of getting tankers to the property spelled the end of dairying.

The farm was sold to buy an orchard in Paengaroa where Anne and Roy lived until a year ago when they moved into Te Puke.

They have two children - Shirley and Arthur.

Helping each other out and being committed are two of the things Anne and Roy say have helped them stay together.

"You did that in those days - nowadays they seem to break up at the drop of a hat," Roy says.

He recalls meeting someone who was having their stag night in a hotel, and the groom-to-be saying if the marriage lasted two years he would be happy.

"If that's the attitude, don't do it, that's not what it's all about," Anne says.

Roy admits there have been ups and downs in the marriage but nothing serious.

Before becoming a farm manager, Roy played rugby but gave up because of the implications of any injury on his work duties.

He has, however, rediscovered his love of playing and is an active member of Te Puke Old Devils golden oldies rugby team that plays out of the Eastern Districts Rugby Club.

"Since he joined the golden oldies, we've done trips all around the world," Anne says.

The longest was to Edinburgh in 2008, an around the world trip that took in Asia, much of Europe, the UK and Canada.

But there have also been trips to tournaments around New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands.

Anne too has her own interests and loves crafts.

Moving into Te Puke has brought with it more learning opportunities. Having not previously had a garden, Anne and Roy are now mastering the green-fingered arts.