A WHITCHURCH couple have received 29 cards, including one from The Queen, after reaching a landmark anniversary last week.

Ken and Irene Clark celebrated 70 years of marriage with friends and family with a party on Sunday, June 7.

The couple, from Fairfield, first met at a New Year’s Eve party in Bournemouth in 1941.

The platinum pair said they courted each other casually with activities such as going to the pictures as Mr Clark was on war work at the time.

The 91-year-old said: “I joined the Navy in October 1943 at 17 and a half and I was stationed in England til 1945.

“I went to India and Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka.

“Whilst I was there we were talking about marriage, we knew we were going to get married when the war finished.

“I bought about 10 yards of silk in Colombo - that was my wedding present to her.

“She would have had to use her coupons to get silk for the dress over here.

“It cost me all of £10, which was a month’s wage for me in those days.”

They married at St Marks Church, Talbot village, Bournemouth on Saturday, June 7 1947.

When Mr Clark was 27, he joined a coal firm as a clerk and was moved to Whitchurch after he was promoted to a managerial position.

On their secret to such a long and happy marriage, Mrs Clark, 90, said: “We’ve never quarrelled, we may have a difference in opinion, but we’ve never quarrelled.

"These days we don’t have expensive tastes, we’re quite happy to make do.

Mr Clark added: “You see most quarrels are about money, my parents argued a lot about money, so we decided that it just wouldn’t happen.

“If we couldn’t afford it, we didn’t buy it."