AFTER 60 years of marriage an Evesham man is still surprising his wife with romantic proposals.

Gordon Stevens, of Shannon Way, Evesham, shocked his wife Jill by booking a trip to Australia and a ceremony to renew their vows to mark their diamond wedding.

The couple returned to All Saints Church, Exmouth, Devon, where they were married on September 6, 1952, to renew their vows.

Mrs Stevens said her husband, who she met at a dance, has been surprising her for the last 60 years.

“He never says anything – he just goes and does it,” she said.

“When I was shopping he tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to come to the travel agents when I finished.

“I got there and the lady said to me that he had booked a trip to Australia and a cruise to New Zealand. We go for a month later this year.”

It seems that even his proposal was a surprise to Mrs Stevens.

“It was winter and we went for a drive,” she said. “He said to me how do you feel about getting married. Then he asked my dad, who said you better ask her grandparents, and they said you better ask her dad, and that was how he proposed.”

The couple, who come from Devon, moved to Evesham in 1972 with their three sons and took over the town’s Weir Meadow Leisure Park.

They sold the business in 2000 soon after rebuilding it following the devastating floods of 1998.

The pair now have eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren and enjoy golf, tennis, dancing and taking holidays in the sun.

Mrs Stevens, who received a letter from the Queen to mark the special milestone, said: “We have always done everything together. I think that is why we have lasted so long. We have never gone our own ways.”