A BROUGHTON couple have celebrated 60 happy years together.

Tom and Dorothy Joyce marked their Boxing Day diamond wedding with a family get-together.

The couple met when Mrs Joyce, nee Bulpitt, was visiting her sister from her home in Andover to a farm in Broughton where Mr Joyce was doing odd jobs.

And after Mr Joyce gave Mrs Joyce a ride on his bicycle back to Wallop, where she worked as a mother’s help, the pair began a six-month courtship. They were married at the Congregational Church, in East Street, Andover, on 26 December 1953.

After a stint with the Guards, Mr Joyce, who has lived all of his life in Broughton, became a gardener while Mrs Joyce became a full-time mother to her son and two daughters.

The couple now have two grandchildren, five step grandchildren and two step great-grandchildren.

When asked what the secret to a happy marriage was, Mr Joyce joked: “Let them have the last word and what they say don’t take any notice.”