‘Love is everywhere here’: Why Gretna Green isn’t just for eloping teens

Secretively packing his holdall, Dennis made sure it had everything he needed: warm clothes, a transistor radio and £40 in cash. 

It was 1965 and he and his teen girlfriend, Marie, had made plans to elope to Gretna Green to get married. 

Their story was common at the time. 

Dennis had asked Marie’s parents for her hand in marriage, but was refused because they thought – at 19 – she was too young. Marie says: ‘They thought I…