A FALMOUTH couple, who first met while in their teens, celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary on Sunday.

Gerald and Marion Yeo, of Boslowick Close, first set eyes on each other when she was a schoolgirl who went on holiday with a friend to the small village where her future husband lived.

Marion lived just outside Tavistock, but found herself in a little place called Wembworthy when she agreed to accompany a friend on holiday when she was just 13. While there she met Gerald, who was 16, and the pair hit it off.

“After I went home, we used to write and Gerald came to visit,” said Marion. “He then went to do his National Service in Singapore and I continued to write to him. All I can remember from that time is a photograph of him in a grass skirt.”

Gerald was in Singapore for 15 months and returned home in 1951 when he was 20-years-old. The couple got engaged when Marion was 18 and still living in Tavistock while Gerald was now living in Exeter. The couple married at Tavistock Parish Church on January 27, 1953 and moved down to Falmouth ten years later. By then they had two daughters, Lorraine and Janette.

When first in Falmouth, Gerald worked for the paint company, WE Taylor, and Marion soon found work at Bowens chemist in Church Street. The store was bought by Ushers Brewery who unusually retained one half as a cosmetics and perfumery counter while the other side of the shop was an off-licence. Rebranded as Applegates, Gerald took over the alcohol and Marion opened a beauty salon at the back of the store. The pair worked together until the cosmetics side of the business was closed in 1973. Gerald continued to work at the shop, which later became Westminster Wine, until he retired in 1989. Marion went on to work at Dingles, in both Falmouth and Helston, until the stores closed in 1988.

The couple have three grandchildren, Richard, Anna and Mark and a great-grandson, Oscar, who they have yet to meet in person. He was born in October and lives in Chichester with his parents, so Gerald and Marion have had to make do with Skype sessions so far. They are planning a family get-together in Cawsands next month when Marion, 79, intends to shower the baby with cuddles.

They are not planning any big celebrations to mark their 60th anniversary, but are having an open house when they will be visited by family and friends throughout the day.

Asked the secret of their wedded success, Gerald, 82, said: “We get on very well. Of course we have had our ups and downs and little arguments, but that is all part of life. We have been very happy overall."

Are you, or do you know someone, celebrating a diamond wedding anniversary. Let us know by emailing jonathan.millar@packetseries.co.uk.