A COUPLE who met through mutual friends are celebrating their golden wedding.

Joy Bourton, 73, and David Bourton, 73, first met when they lived in Worcester but now live in Kempsey

Courting lasted around four years before David popped the question at The Jockey Inn, in the village of Earls Croome.

He asked for her hand in marriage earlier during their courtship but Joy felt she was not quite ready for the big leap, being in her early 20s at the time.

But she was sure he was the one from the moment they first met.

When the time was right, she dropped hints to David and she said yes when he asked, although he did not go down on bended knee.

St George’s Catholic Church, in Sansome Place, Worcester was where they got married, followed by a two week honeymoon in Paignton, Devon, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Mr Bourton said: The secret to a happy marriage is when you are both independent but to also enjoy spending time together.

“I was working away for some of the year, fitting computer floors in offices up and down the country for 30 years of my working life.

“Joy was looking after the kids for long periods of time.

“Marriage is something you have to work on and not take for granted.”

Mrs Bourton said: “You can’t be in each other’s pockets all the time for a marriage to work.

“Too much time together can be a bad thing and you run out of things to talk about.

“It’s good to have your own interests in life, such as seeing friends.

“We’ve always talked about any issues we have had.

“It’s important to not let anything fester, which is something we’ve never done over 50 years.

“Don’t go to bed in a mood with one other, sort it out before you sleep.”

Family members will celebrate with them in an undecided pub in Hallow in the next couple of days.

The couple have two children, James and Lydia and two grand children.