John and Joan start weddings tradition

When John and Joan Potts tied the knot at a Black Country church 70 years ago little did they know they would be starting a family tradition.

Both their daughter and grand-daughter have since followed in their footsteps by standing at the same alter in Christ Church, Coseley.

Daughter Joyce, now aged 67, married Alan Bunn, 71, in 1961 and grand-daughter Nicola, aged 42, wed Mike Doherty, 44, in 1991.

Now Mr and Mrs Potts are celebrating their platinum wedding and say they are still as much in love as the first day they met.

They first clapped eyes on each other on the local "monkey run" in Bilston, where groups of boys and girls would walk up and down the streets talking to one another, in 1936.

It was love at first sight for the teenagers, who were married on July 29 1938, after a two-year courtship.

The couple, who have lived in the same house in Havacre Lane, Coseley, for 68 years, have three children, Joyce, John, 68 and Roger, 59.

They are also blessed with six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren and say their family is the most important thing in their life. In their working days Mr Potts, now aged 90, was a foreman at Steelway, in Wolverhampton, while Mrs Potts, now aged 89, was a cook at GKN Sankey in Bilston.

The happy couple put their successful marriage down to their unfaltering devotion. "We have had a great 70 years and we love each other very much. We have a beautiful family and we are proud of all of them," Mr Potts said.

Mrs Bunn, a part-time beauty therapy lecturer, who lives with husband Mike, a retired district transport manager, in Fullwoods End, Coseley, said her parents were "made for each other".

"They understand each other and are very compatible. Their family means the world to them," she added.

Mr and Mrs Potts, who received a telegram from the Queen were guests of honour at a special family meal to celebrate at The Cross in Codsall Wood.