Diamond day as years speed by for couple

Ellen Holden said she was surprised at how quickly the decades had gone by married to her husband Richard.

"You wonder where the 60 years have gone, especially the past ten years," she stated.

"You have to work at a marriage. We don't always see eye to eye and I'm sure that's the same with all marriages.

"But it helps if you both enjoy the same hobbies, though that doesn't stop us doing different things."

The couple, of Ash Grove, are regulars at the carpet bowls club at the Jubilee Hall in North Bersted. Mr Holden organises the social outings for the club's members.

He has recently become a volunteer usher at the Alexandra Theatre to rekindle his interest in amateur theatre, having played a robber in Babes in the Wood at the Rex Ballroom on the seafront in 1950.

The couple, both Bognorians, met along the seafront in 1945 while Mr Holden was on leave from the Royal Navy.

They were introduced by a friend of Mrs Holden's.

They were married on a sunny day at St Mary Magdalene Church in South Bersted and have two children and four grandchildren.

Mr Holden, who belongs to the local history society, worked as a conductor on Southdown Buses and other jobs before he became a gas fitter and service engineer for many years.

He was also in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve for 29 years for which he was awarded the British Empire Medal.

Mrs Holden (78) spent 25 years working in school dinners at what is now Bognor Regis Community College.

The couple have lived in Ash Grove since their house was built as a council property in 1954.

They have since bought it and know of only one individual, a neighbour, who has lived in the houses for the past 54 years.

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