A Stevenage couple who fell in love when London was still recovering from the Blitz have celebrated 60 years of marriage with their family and friends.
Doris met Jack Hawes, 82, in London on the day he was demobbed from the army.
She said: “I was only 15 at the time and I can’t say that I was unimpressed with him.”
The couple immediately fell in love and got married in London two years later – on August 20, 1955.
Like many people of their generation, they left London for a better life and moved to Welwyn Garden City and then Basildon before settling in Stevenage in the 1960s.
Doris, 77, said: “We needed a bigger house because we had three children then and so we moved to Stevenage where houses were a lot cheaper. There was also a lot of more space and parks.
“I remember we used to put all the children in the car and go out for trips into the countryside.
“After we moved to the town I got a job working at British Aerospace assembling silicon chips and my husband continued working as an insurance agent for Liverpool Victoria until he retired.”
The couple, who have three children and two grandchildren, celebrated their anniversary with family and friends at The Broadway Hotel in Letchworth and visited the church where they married on Saturday.
When asked about what the secret to a successful marriage was, Doris said: “When you get married young it lasts longer because you do not know anything of the world.
“Nowadays people wait a lot longer which is probably a good thing for a lot of people.”
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