Margaret meets Alan at a social evening in Fareham, where careful dancing leads to a telephone call and a first date.

Margaret and Alan buy a used red Chevette after George inspects it and offers the nearest thing he gives to approval.

Margaret and Alan marry at Fareham Register Office and begin married life in a flat still filled with boxes.

Two days after their wedding, Margaret and Alan take the Chevette and ferry to Shanklin for a four-night honeymoon.

Margaret and Alan settle into their first married home, a compact Fareham flat with second-hand furniture and a coin-operated laundry.

Margaret and Alan move from their Havant house to a smaller bungalow in Emsworth as their children become more independent.

Claire marries Simon after organising the day with the same attention she gives to most family arrangements.

Margaret records the practical first weeks after Alan’s death without repeating the private details of his final morning.