“Martyn’s hands were grubby enough to tell me we’d get on.”

The muddy love story of Sally and Martyn.

Back in 2018, Sally, a countryside lass with a love for vintage fairs, stepped into the online dating world with Muddy Matches. Looking for a man with ‘great facial hair’, she stumbled upon Martyn’s dating profile. He was a blacksmith with a passion for all things steam-powered.

Intrigued, she sent him a message about his forge, and before long, they were bonding over their love of heritage crafts and country life.

“I wasn’t sure about online dating, I was actually quite sceptical about it. But when I saw Martyn’s profile and his photos, I thought, ‘Now that’s a proper man!'” Sally laughs.

“You can always spot the part timers who just fancy the idea of a country life rather than actually living it. Martyn’s hands were grubby enough to tell me we’d get on.”

Martyn was equally as sceptical, but equally as impressed with what he saw in Sally. “Not many women appreciate a man who comes home smelling of coal and molten metal!” he tells us. “I always thought if I were going to meet someone, it’d be at a country show, not on a website,” he admits.

“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much, then along comes Sally, who says she definitely knew her way around a beer tent and had been to a few of events I tend to do, and I thought—blimey.”

Their first date was at The Greyhound Pub in Blandford Forum, having indulged their passions – and Martyn in his element demonstrating his custom ironwork in workshops – at the Great Dorset Steam Fair.

Quickly, their connection grew, fuelled by strong tea, hearty meals out, and shared appreciation for life at a slower, more traditional pace. They found comfort in the simple joys that comes from keeping rural tradition alive.

Weekends are often spent together at steam rallies, vintage fairs, and farmers’ markets, traveling across the country to events or visiting English heritage sites.

As for their idea of a perfect date together then? A picnic by a river, a ride on a heritage steam train, or simply sitting in their garden, listening to the owls and watching the bats of a night.

“We might not have a nine-to-five, but we work hard,” Sally says. “It’s a different kind of life—one that’s slower, more hands-on, and so much more rewarding.”

Fast forward to 2023, and Martyn had a plan as well-crafted as one of his ironwork creations. At a steam railway fair in the Midlands, surrounded by the hiss of engines and the hum of nostalgia – he got down on one knee, a handcrafted iron ring in hand. Sally said yes.

“It was perfect,” Sally recalls. “Honestly, I think half the crowd thought it was just part of Martyn’s demonstration!” In Martyn’s words it was ‘just magic.’

Now, with wedding plans well underway for this winter, Sally and Martyn are proof that love is sometimes found in the most delightfully old-fashioned of places.