Slamannan firefighter’s love for his wife still burns bright 60 years on

Crawford and Etta Stewart are both Slamannan folk born and bred and have lived their entire lives in the village – staying in the same house in Bank Street all their married life.

Etta (79) said: “I first met Crawford at the badminton in the church hall and at Sunday School – I was 14 and he was my first and only boyfriend. We got engaged at 8am on my 18th birthday.

“Crawford was working with his father, who was a painter and decorator, at the time.”

The couple were married in Slamannan Parish Church on August 5, 1960 by Reverend Alexander Cameron.

“It was a perfect day,” said Etta. “It was beautiful and it was as if the whole of Slamannan had come out because it was a marriage of two Slamannan families. We went down to Mathiesons cafe afterwards, there were 150 of us.”

Moving from painting and decorating, Crawford joined Inver House whisky distillers and also began his long career as a retained firefighter.

Crawford (81) would stay with the village’s fire service for 37 years – in 1973 he was among the brave crews who battled the massive blaze at Camelon’s tar works.

Etta worked as a stationery assistant and then a window dresser for John Menzies before moving to DER, which became Radio Rentals.

Three years into their marriage, the couple welcomed son Stephen (57) and he later had a family of his own, blessing his parents with two grandsons, Gordon and Gavin.

Great grandson Daniel came along three months ago at the height of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.

Etta said: “I saw him through a window and I’ve managed to see him in the garden, but I’ve not had enough cuddles from him yet.”

As well as preventing Etta from enjoying her great grandson’s company, the coronavirus crisis has also thrown a major spanner in the couple’s plans to celebrate their diamond anniversary.

“Our holiday to Spain has been cancelled,” said Etta. “We were going to go out there to see my sister, who was my bridesmaid. Now we will just be going out for dinner to celebrate our anniversary and hopefully be able to get out to Spain later in the year.”

Pandemic headaches aside, the Stewart’s have enjoyed their long marriage.

Etta said: “We’ve had a good life and we do everything together – we help each other. I couldn’t do without him. I bake a lot so that helps to keep him sweet.”