WHEN Douglas and Phyllis Brame returned from a surprise holiday which celebrated 50 years of wedded bliss, they had another surprise waiting for them.Because their six children, 13 grandchildren and three great grandchildren had teamed up to redecorate their Lindbergh Road home and lay on a party.

WHEN Douglas and Phyllis Brame returned from a surprise holiday which celebrated 50 years of wedded bliss, they had another surprise waiting for them.

Because their six children, 13 grandchildren and three great grandchildren had teamed up to redecorate their Lindbergh Road home and lay on a party.

Phyllis Brame, who met her husband in 1950 when he was a grenadier stationed in North Africa, said:"It was a wonderful surprise. Our youngest daughter met us from a holiday to north Devon and when we arrived home they had made a big board wishing us a happy anniversary. Then all the little children ran up to greet us."

As well as the party, their Ipswich home had been treated to an overhaul courtesy of the couple's six children Douglas, Glyn, Maurice, Julie, Nigel and Patricia.

The couple met at Priory Heath youth club when Phyllis was just 16 and Douglas was 19. They got engaged the next year and got married soon after.

Mrs Brame, 68, who worked in Newstead's bakery after she left school, said: "He looked so handsome in his uniform. We got married in St Augustine's Church and when we stepped outside, with him in his uniform, a red bus stopped to watch us."

According to Mr Brame, 71, the secret of a successful marriage is bearing each other no malice.

His wife agreed. "You have your ups and downs but if you're lucky the ups outweigh the downs."