Newbury diamond couple say that 60 years have ‘gone so quickly’
The couple share their secrets to a long and happy marriage in an interview with the NWN
VALENTINE’S Day may have been and gone – but for one couple from Newbury love is still very much in the air.
Glyn, 88, and Diana Morgan, 83, are celebrating their diamond wedding today (Thursday) and have told the Newbury Weekly News about their six decades of happiness together.
The pair met at a Christmas party in December 1955, when 27-year-old Mr Morgan was asked to dress up as Father Christmas.
He was taking a group of young boys to a dance in Marlborough when he first set eyes on 23-year-old Diana Doggett, who was a helper at the Lambourn Social Centre.
“He came over and said ‘I’ve not seen you before,’ and he asked me if I was married,” she said.
“I thought, ‘he’s a small Father Christmas’.
“He was playing a record as well.
“If I’m honest, I thought he was a tiny man and a bit cocky.
“We got talking and he wanted to know if I was going to the service on Christmas Eve and I said I wouldn’t be, because I’d be going to bed early and, at that time, I didn’t go to church.”
Born in Birmingham, Mrs Morgan moved to Lambourn before the Second World War, while Welsh-born Mr Morgan spent time in Newmarket and Lewes, before settling in the village.
Mr Morgan, a stable boy and former jockey, soon asked his wife-to-be’s father for permission to go out with his daughter.
After getting engaged in April 1956, the couple tied the knot two years later at Lambourn church – on Saturday, February 15, 1958.
Mrs Morgan wore a pair of stylish white-laced butterfly glasses to compliment her wedding dress, which cost £17, and she had three bridesmaids.
Following the wedding ceremony, the couple had a reception at Lambourn Social Centre – the very place where they had first met – and were joined by 50 to 60 guests.
They then left the reception early to catch a train to London for their honeymoon, where they went to the theatre and cinema and visited friends.
The couple bought their first house for £1,100 in 1962, a two-up, two-down property in Railway Road, Newbury.
They had their first child, David, in 1960 and their daughter Jane in 1965.
The Morgans now have granddaughters Gemma and Hayley and one great-granddaughter, three-year-old Eva-Mae, who the couple had the pleasure of naming.
While they admit they have had gone through tough times, Mr Morgan says the secret of a long and happy marriage is to not be selfish.
He said: “You have to consider the other person more than yourself.
“It has gone so quickly. To have spent 60 years together you have to live a while and I didn’t think we would live long enough.”
Mrs Morgan, who was part of the Lambourn netball team who played in the Festival of Britain in 1951, said: “We’ve had our ups and downs like anyone else – you can’t go through life without them.
She added that it’s all about “talking things over with one another if things aren’t going well, or if you have money difficulties, you’ve got to share them”.
The couple celebrated with a meal at The Rampant Cat, Woolton Hill, last weekend and are having tea with close friends, neighbours and family today.
