Love blossoms over countryside walks for Jeff and Betty

However, it seems, if you want to find friendship, and maybe something more, a walking club may be the answer.

Chirk Walking Club already has a married couple who met through the group – Charles and Patsy Owen.

And in September Jeff Stanton and Betty Hicks will tie the knot.

Jeff’s wife of 40 years died suddenly three years ago.

Desperately lonely, he looked at ways of making new friends by volunteering and joining societies – and was eventually persuaded to join the Chirk Walking Group.

Another new member was Betty, whose husband of 15 years had passed away.

They went on the club walks, making conversation, but it wasn’t until the end of a club holiday to Eastbourne in October 2019, that the friendship grew.

“We got back to Chirk and it was horrible weather. Betty had suggested that we all go for a meal together but people just wanted to go home. I went home and felt very down so I found Betty’s number and texted her,” Jeff, 69, said.

Blossomed

The pair met up midway between Jeff’s home in Chirk and Betty’s in Wrexham and, over the meal, never stopped talking.

Soon afterwards they went to see the illumination of the Chirk aqueduct for the 10th anniversary of the creation of the World Heritage Site.

Betty, 63, said: “We were walking down the path from the Chirk Bank direction and it looked so stunning.

"It was such a romantic sight and, well, romance blossomed. We now refer to the path as Romance Lane.”

The couple are now planning their September wedding and are urging anyone who is lonely or unhappy – of any age – to consider joining a walking club.

“They are such a wonderful way of getting out and about and to make friends,” Betty said.

“You see so much nature and wildlife, and get to know people from all walks of life. I never ever thought I would find love again.

“We have gone through our grief of losing our partners together.

“We have helped each other through the bad times and are thoroughly enjoying the good times.”