When Mark met Sally - a tale of lockdown love

Sally Baguley and Mark Powell got together after mutual detective work to find each other after a couple of fleeting moments that left them stuck in each other's heads.

The first met when Severn Hospice physiotherapist Sally went on a camping trip to Attingham Park in May 2019. She got chatting to a "really interesting" chap who was serving the drinks.

"I thought, I quite like him, and I'd like to talk to him again," she said.

The 51-year-old took a shine to him, but when she went back for another brew, he had gone.

Fast forward a few months, and she saw him again, volunteering at Town Walls Tower.

"He looked at me and said 'Don't I know you from somewhere?' I said it was from camping at Attingham."

Again, the chance to grab his number slipped through her grasp, but after gentle nudging from hospice colleagues, she popped on her deerstalker and took out her magnifying glass to track down Mark.

She asked Attingham's volunteer co-ordinator Jo Fells about a handsome chap, and provided her with a picture.

Jo let Mark know, and he tracked her down after reading a Shropshire Star article about when she ran a half marathon for the hospital. She was running not only round Lake Vyrnwy, but through Mark's mind.

Finally, more than a year after they first met, they had their first, socially distanced date, before moving in together for the latest lockdown.

"We just click," said Sally. "We just get on so well and it feels right."

They are looking forward to going on holiday and having more proper dates when Covid-19 restrictions are eased.