A couple who fell in love when Winston Churchill was prime minister have celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.

The Comet: Jack and Joyce Hawkes on their wedding day in 1955.Jack and Joyce Hawkes on their wedding day in 1955. (Image: Archant)

Jack and Joyce Hawkes moved to Stevenage in 1963 when he got a job at English Electric.

Joyce, 81, said: “The secret of a marriage is working 50/50. We share everything from gardening to housework. We are also family very orientated and are very close. I also think that you need to have other interests. I sing in a choir and Jack has his own hobbies.”

The couple met in London in 1951 and got married four years later in Southwark Cathedral. Their first child Lynne was born in 1960 and the family struggled until Jack managed to get a job and a house in Stevenage.

Joyce said: “We were living in two rooms near Waterloo. We had to share a toilet and had no facilities. We came to Stevenage with a house and a garden. It was absolutely amazing and a year later our second son Alan was born.”

Their third son, Justin, was born in 1970. They are having a party to celebrate the day later this month.