This is a diamond day for Don and Ivy

THE secret to a long and happy marriage is give and take, according to one Newbury couple who are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary today.

Don Humphries, 84, and his wife, Ivy, 85, married in 1958 and six decades later say they couldn’t be happier.

Mrs Humphries said: “The secret is give and take.

“Everyone has little quarrels, but we always make up.”

Mr Humphries added: “We’ve had our ups and downs, who doesn’t, but we’ve survived it.

“It’s all about give and take.”

Mr Humphries met his future wife in 1956 at the Five Bells pub in Wickham.

He was born and raised in Newbury, but Mrs Humphries was visiting relatives as she lived at Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.

“I didn’t realise she was from Clacton,” Mr Humphries said. “She was eating a packet of crisps when I first saw her.”

Mrs Humphries said: “I had an aunt and uncle in Wickham.

“Don used to come to Clacton one weekend and I would come to Wickham the next.

“He then said one day, instead of keep going backwards and forwards, why don’t we get married?”

They married in 1958, in St James’ Church, Clacton-on-Sea, and had their honeymoon in London where they saw Norman Wisdom in a West End show.

They then returned to Newbury, where they have lived ever since in Oakley Road, and have two sons, Mark and Derek, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

To celebrate their diamond wedding, their daughter-in-law Alison, son Mark and two of their grandsons and their girlfriends will take Mr and Mrs Humphries to The Swan, London Road, for a meal.