MALVERN couple Dot and Geoffrey Walker celebrated 60 years of happy marriage on Saturday, March 15, at home with family members.

Mr Walker was born in Colwall in 1929, and brought up in Ledbury , and his wife-to-be was born in Overbury, near Tewkesbury, in 1926.

The couple met at when both were working at the engineering company Stone Chance, in Pickersleigh Road, Malvern, next to the Morgan factory, in 1952. He was in charge of the machine shop and and she was one of the machine operators.

"I didn't have a girlfriend at the time and we started to get talking," Mr Walker said. "After about a couple of months, I asked her out and she said 'yes'. We went to the cinema, the Odeon in Worcester, although we can;t remember what the film was."

That first date led to a blossoming relationship, and two years later the couple got married at Holly Mount Church in the town centre.

"We've lived in Malvern ever since," said Mr Walker. "We've now got two sons and a daughter, seven grandchildren and two-great grandchildren, so it's quite a lot of family members to keep track of."

But many of them managed to come to Mr and Mrs Walker's home in Barnards Green on Saturday afternoon for a party marking the milestone.

"I think the secret to a successful marriage is give and take," said Mr Walker. "We take things at they come and if there are difficult times, we pull together."