Copnor couple are still laughing after 60 years of marriage

The couple, now celebrating their diamond wedding, met in 1957 while Marian was working at Melanie's Department Store, North End.

Marian, née Saint, says: ‘I used to work on the women’s haberdashery counter.

‘John was a bricklayer apprentice and his friend asked out someone who worked on the cosmetics counter.

‘He came down one day and asked me out that evening, and it all went from there.’

A year later the couple were engaged and on August 20, 1960, they married at St Wilfrid’s Church, Cowplain.

‘We moved to a flat by Copnor Bridge and had our son Tony in 1961,’ explains Marian, 79. ‘We moved to a big house in Fratton and it was just awful. There was water under the floorboards.

‘We went on to buy my parents’ old house which was where I grew up. They had passed away by then.’

The Tuckeys still live in their Copnor home and Marian enjoys tending her garden. She adds: ‘I love gardening. I have just picked some vegetables from my garden.’

Marian and John, 80, have celebrated their special anniversary with their family, including their granddaughter Lucy, great-granddaughter Ruby and great-great-grandson Max.

‘John is my best friend,' adds Marian. ‘He’s good to me and although we’re getting older, we’re still happy together. I wouldn’t change him.’