Peter and Phyl still fond of each other after 60 years of marriage

The couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary on Thursday with a nice meal, presents and cards from friends and family at their home in Albrighton, ahead of a celebration dinner at the weekend.

The anniversary of their wedding at St. Barnabas Church in East Ham in London on October 5, 1963 brought back fond memories of the day they met for Peter, with the 83-year-old saying it went back to their days at university in London in 1958.

He said: "I was at King's College London University and we would have intercollegiate dances, so I went over to the London School of Economics with friends for one of the dances.

"I was sitting there when this lady came over and, as it was a lady's choice, asked me if I wanted to dance, which I initially said no to as I was very shy, but my friends told me I would never get a better opportunity than that and shoved me towards her.

"We started chatting and it's very difficult to carry on a conversation with someone you don't know at that age, but she asked if I liked music and I said I was very fond of opera and, and this was a turning point, she asked if I liked Frank Sinatra.

"I said 'Oh, you'd don't call him a singer, do you?' and said I did like him, he was very good, but she walked away and I told my friends about what I said, to which they said I won't find anyone like her very easily, so go and ask her to dance and say you're sorry, which I did, and it started from there."

That began a courtship which culminated in their wedding in East Ham, which Peter said was near where Phyl lived with her parents, and setting up home in London for around 12 years before a job offer with Tarmac for Peter, who is a solicitor, saw the couple move to Wolverhampton in the mid-1970s.

He said they settled into life in Wolverhampton with their three children, Paul, Stella and James, and moved around before settling on a place on the outskirts of town.

He said: "We lived in the London area for 12 years before I applied for and got a job with Tarmac as their chief solicitor, then came on the main board and ran one of their divisions, so that's how we came to move to the Midlands.

"We moved around and had rented accommodation before we settled on a house on Compton Road West near to the Wolves training ground, but moved away after a few narrow scrapes and crashes and ended up in Albrighton in 1974, where we've lived since.

"She was a teacher by trade, but then the children took over and she gave up the teaching to look after them, particularly as I was travelling a lot for the job."

Outside of the work, the couple have shared a love of playing tennis and have also travelled extensively, with houses in Menorca and France over the years, while Peter also served as a non-executive board member for Midlands News Association for 33 years.

When asked about the secret to a long marriage, Peter said he felt though there had been ups and downs, the couple were still very fond of each other after all these years.

He said: "I suppose there have been ups and downs, but we have both been very tolerant of things at times and we remain very fond of each other.

"Both of us are very lucky to still be fit and healthy at our ages and I'm very happy to be able to celebrate this amazing anniversary."