As time goes by

After just 11 weeks of knowing each other Rita King, 86, and Kim Gordon, 91, are set to tie the knot in spring next year.

They are now looking for a two-bedroom flat in the retirement block in Mount Pleasant Road where they live and met.

Mr Gordon, who retired 26 years ago from the Stock Exchange in London, said: "I'm still reeling. I never thought I would marry again. I thought, who would want an old bloke in his 90s?"

Mrs King, who had recently moved from Norfolk, was sitting in the coffee room in the block of flats.

Mr Gordon has lived in the retirement blocks nearly 12 years and thought he knew everyone. But not this new resident, so he resolved to sit down and talk to her.

He said: "I asked Rita if she knew the area, she said 'no', so I said 'I will take you around and show you the places of Poole'."

It started with Poole Park, went on to coach trips to Devon and Mr Gordon proposed on Tuesday August 10.

Mr Gordon said: "We were like a couple of kids. She's proved there's life in the old dog yet."

Mrs King, originally from Copenhagen in Denmark, said: "We got talking and found we both had a lot in common.

"We never get bored together. We started to like each other and our feelings started to grow. He said he loved me and asked 'Will you marry me?' and I said 'Yes'."

Both have been married before.

Mrs King - who has had various jobs, including being an auxiliary nurse and working in a cinema - was widowed three years ago after 55 years of marriage and has three children, 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Mr Gordon's wife died four-and-a-half years ago after 52 years of marriage and he has four children as well as two grandchildren.

The happy couple are hoping to get married in a local church and are likely to honeymoon in the USA, where two of Mrs King's children live.

Of the future, Mr Gordon has one ambition - to teach his new bride how to play chess.

First published: August 13