What are your Valentine memories? Our readers and staff have been sharing theirs - ranging from a wooden heart to meeting a future husband in a field.

Charlotte Smith-Jarvis writes: "Before we had children and when they were younger, my husband was a huge romantic.

"I remember one year when we lived in a rural village he kept disappearing to our cart lodge in the evenings. It bugged me at the time - "what on earth are you doing out there?" - but on Valentine's Day he presented me with a wooden, polished heart he'd carved from a small tree trunk in the nearby woodlands. Of course, all was forgiven.

"Another year he made me a heart-shaped mirror. But he slipped last year, when not only did he give me flowers in a colour I hate (yellow) but when I reached into the bunch, spotting a card, it said 'With Greatest Sympathy'. They were funeral blooms. What on earth made the florist sell them to a bloke on Valentine's Eve, I'll never know. He's been in the garage a lot recently, so perhaps this year he's gone back to his roots..."

Judy Rimmer writes: "As a teenager at school, I was always jealous of the girls who brought in cards, flowers and chocolates from their boyfriends. I did have one or two boyfriends during my school years but I have a feeling these short-lived relationships never coincided with February.

East Anglian Daily Times: So romantic - the Spectacle of Light at Haughley Park. Picture: HAUGHLEY PARK LTDSo romantic - the Spectacle of Light at Haughley Park. Picture: HAUGHLEY PARK LTD (Image: Archant)

"Years later, my husband did actually propose on Valentine's Day - but it wasn't a case of getting down on one knee, as he was driving at the time. We were actually on a short break visiting friends in Surrey.

"While moving the car into a space, he suddenly asked me if I wanted to get married, and I said yes.

"We didn't tell family and friends for a few weeks, as we hadn't been going out all that long, so we only got 'officially' engaged in March - but it's still my best Valentine's Day memory.

"This year, we made a slightly early visit to a very romantic setting, the Spectacle of Light at Haughley Park, where trees have been lit up in all kinds of amazing colours. Many couples were having their photos taken next to a large red heart amid the woods."

READ MORE - Fancy a love bite this Valentine's Day?'We met in the middle of a field'

Members of the Ipswich Remembers Facebook group have been discussing their romantic memories.

Gabrielle Howard recalled a very unusual meeting with her future husband. She wrote: "We met in the middle of a field in 1969 on a pea-souper of a foggy night, on the way to Alnesbourne Priory. He had a flash MGB and I was in a mini van driven by my friend, who had just passed her driving test that day!

"She ran him off the road and he spun into a field. That didn't do his car much good. We have been married 48 years this year."

Gillian Nunn wrote: "I met my husband on a blind date. I was 17 and he was 20. Now, 31 years later, we have three daughters and have just welcomed our first grandson into the world."

And Natalie Puzey said: "My mum and dad met in 1967. Dad was at Copleston boys, mum was at the girls. They met and used to talk through a hole in the fence (or may have been a wall!) The teachers called them Pyramus and Thisbe, from A Midsummer Night's Dream (talking through the wall). They married in 1976, still going!"

In the Norwich Remembers Facebook group, Carole Cole writes: "I met my husband at city college in 1980 and we spent many happy hours at the Lamb pub - by a roaring fire. We married on 1986 and have been together ever since."

Another group member, Margaret Wicks, had a somewhat less romantic Valentine's memory, though. She writes: "It is my birthday and when I was a child I was allowed to play outside later at night. We used to play rat-a tat on people's doors and run away! Apparently this was a Valentine's custom."

Spread the love with Galentine's Day

Have you heard of Galentine's Day? It's becoming increasingly popular as an addition to Valentine's Day.

Emily Cashen writes: "Galentine's Day is an unofficial holiday that takes place on February 13.

"As the name suggests, it's a celebration of female friendship and is all about showing your best friends some love.

"Friendships can be just as satisfying, rewarding and enriching as romantic relationships, so why not take the time to celebrate them, too? I'll be spending February 13 with some of my closest friends - we've got a table booked for dinner and none of us would miss it for the world!"

-This February is doubly romantic, with not only Valentine's Day but also Leap Day on February 29, when traditionally women can propose to men. Are you proposing this Leap Day? Send us an email.