A devoted Stevenage couple are celebrating their Diamond wedding anniversary and two significant birthdays all in the same week.

Bill and Violetta Taplin were married on August 11, 1956. Violetta turned 80 on Wednesday and Bill is 88 today (Saturday).

Bill, who is from Stevenage and remembers the new town being built, met Violetta when they both worked at Educational Supply Association Ltd factory in Stevenage.

Violetta worked in the office and Bill in the tool room. The couple set eyes on one another and the rest, as they say, is history. “I was done hook line and sinker,” said Violetta.

The couple dated for two years before tying the knot at St Michael’s in Welwyn Garden City.

They soon started a family and have two daughters and a son. They now also have four grandchildren.

The couple have lived in Stevenage ever since they were married and Violetta brought up the children as well as enjoying hobbies of craft and flower arranging. Bill was made redundant in the 1980s but set up his own successful tools business from his garden shed.

The couple attended St Nicholas Church in Stevenage for many years, and have enjoyed many foreign holidays together.

Violetta said: “I wouldn’t swap it for the world. We’ve had a great marriage.”

“It’s just about being happy in one another’s company. I don’t know what I would have done without him.”

The couple are celebrating with a small family party.