Diamond celebration for Suffolk couple

A LOVING couple who are celebrating their 60 years of married life with a Caribbean cruise have warned youngsters the secret to a long matrimony is not to expect it all to be plain sailing.

Roy and Eileen Adams, from Kesgrave, believe the key ingredient for a marriage as long as theirs is for couples to pull together to ride through life's choppy waters, such as the current economic storm.

Celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary this week, the 82-year-old couple first met at Kesgrave Area School (now Kesgrave High School), where they were in the same class.

But they readily confess it was not love at first sight, and it was their passion for playing sport which bought them together years later and produced a winning partnership.

The Cambridge Road residents, who were born 20 days apart, are set to toast their longevity together with a cruise around some of the most idyllic islands in the Caribbean. They are also holding a lunch for family and friends at Rushmere Golf Club in Ipswich - the scene of many happy afternoons together on the greens.

Mr Adams, a former chief inspector at Suffolk Constabulary, said: “In life you want to pull together and not tear each other apart. That is our motto - not being at each other's throats.

“The important thing is working together and not trying to score points off each other. If you pull together you should be able to carry on like we have for 60 years.”

Reflecting on their married life, he added among the good times there had also been periods of adversity to come through, such as losing one of their six grandchildren at a young age. But it was working together through those times that made for such a strong marriage.

The couple first got together at 15 and tied the knot at 22, following a four year engagement while Roy was serving away with the Royal Navy on Minesweepers. They married at All Saints Church in Kesgrave.