ACCORDING to Numurkah’s Amy and Les Hall, if there is a secret behind the success of their 70 year marriage, it’s communication.

The couple, who met at a dance in the Yorkshire village of Terrington in 1947, say they have always discussed everything, to make sure they were on the same page.

“You have to make sure you can agree on things and make decisions together, and you can’t blame each other if things go wrong, because you agreed on it together,” Les told the Leader.

Amy said that, knowing each other so well, if one had a decision to make, the other could always help.

“We could say to each other ‘Are you sure you would like that?’ Because we know each other so well, we could help the other think things through,” she said.

Speaking to the couple, who still look at each other like a pair of young lovebirds, it’s clear that the term ‘wedded bliss’ is far more than a cliché in their case.

They both confirm that they have had very few arguments over their years together, and no serious ones.

“We’ve had a few small arguments, but we’ve always tried to see each other’s point of view, so none of our arguments ever got out of hand,” Amy said.

Their harmonious relationship may well be proof of what Les says he knew the moment he saw Amy at that dance so many years ago.

“She was the one for me. I knew we were meant to be together,” he said.

At a fortnight shy of 101 years of age, Amy can be forgiven for not remembering what she thought of Les at that first meeting. However, when the suggestion is made that it had something to do with those twinkling blue eyes of his, she doesn’t deny it.

Knowing he’d met his match, Les was determined to bring Amy around to the idea, and started making frequent visits to the post office where she worked.

“I would go in a couple of times a week and buy a penny’s worth of stamps,” he said.

“I ended up with quite a collection, but it was worth it.”

Les would come and accompany Amy home on her half day off each week, and love bloomed as they rode along on their bikes.

The couple became engaged in February 1949 and married in September of that year. In 1961, with two young sons, they emigrated to Melbourne as part of the ‘10 pound pom’ scheme. 

On the other side of the world, their bond only strengthened.

“We relied on each other and took care of each other,” Amy said.

“We had to be a team, and always think about each other and what was best for us as a couple and as a family.”

For Amy and Les, teamwork has always meant exactly that.

“We’ve always had an equal partnership and worked together. If there was work to be done, we pitched in and did it together, because it was about our life together and our family,” Amy said.

As for Les, he is adamant that it’s Amy’s pleasant approach to life that has made their relationship what it is.

“We’ve had a happy life together,” he said.

“I always knew she was the one for me.”