West Winch couple mark 60 years of happy marriage

A West Winch couple have celebrated six decades of marriage with a family party and a message from the Queen.

Fred Barnes, 83, and Yvonne Barnes, 81, who met in Jersey in the summer of 1956, reached their diamond wedding anniversary last Thursday.

They were engaged by March 1957, but Yvonne’s father said she was not allowed to marry until she was 21.

Undeterred by the constraint, the pair decided to wed the day after her birthday, on June 14, 1958.

They now have two children, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Their daughter Tracy Shaw said: “I have never heard them argue, they are simply soulmates who adore each other and have shown us what true love is all about. They are fantastic, supportive and loving parents and grandparents and we all adore them dearly.”

They put their happy marriage down to compromising, talking to each other and never going to bed on a bad word.