Sixty years of marriage has flown by in the blink of an eye for one loved-up former Southfields couple.

And as they approach their landmark Diamond wedding anniversary Ron and Pat Page say they may not know the secret to a lasting marriage but they do know that being contented has helped.

Mr Page, 82, said he could not wait to mark 60 years of marriage with wife Pat, 79.

The grandfather-of-two said: "You wouldn’t know where ten years have gone, people who were at our fiftieth anniversary all said the same thing, it’s unbelievable. "

The couple, whose official anniversary is Thursday, August 23 but who are having a celebration party on Saturday, August 25, met when Mr Page came out of the army in the 1950s and returned to his former family home in Cresset Street, Clapham.

He said: "I came out the army after conscription and Pat was friends with my sister.

"When I left to join the army Pat wasn’t living on my street but she moved there and met my sister, also called Pat, and through my sister I started going out with her. I was 23 and Pat was only 20.

"I came out the army and was looking for love, sixty years on we are still married."

The couple, who moved to Arnold Drive, Chessington, more than 18 years ago, courted for two years before marrying in St Peter’s Church, Clapham, and having a reception at the former Clapham Manor Baths.

Over 60 years together the duo have had one son, two grandsons, and moved across South London living in Southfields and Wimbledon before recently settling in Chessington.

The husband and wife describe their wedding day as the best moment of six decades together.

Mrs Page is looking forward to celebrating her anniversary in style with two original bridesmaids present.

She said: "Ron was good looking then and he is still not bad now. "I remember I was very nervous and I cried on our wedding day but I think that is quite normal really. It was a nice day."

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