A couple who are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary were the last of their friends to get married.

Peter and Pauline Hickman were married at St Patrick’s Church, Wallington, Surrey, on March 15, 1958, at the ages of 25 and 26. They met around nine years before at the church youth club, during a rambling event.

They said that their lives were too busy to get married until nine years later, with Pauline working at the French Institute and Peter’s National Service “hanging over them”. In the end Peter wasn’t called up and he stayed in the Auxiliary Air Force and National Service was ended the next year.

Once they were married, they went to Swanage in Dorset for their honeymoon and lived in Epsom. Pauline was a bilingual secretary in London before becoming a French teacher at Rosebery School, Epsom, and Peter became an aircraft engineer for 42 years. Working on Hawker Aircraft and finally for British Aerospace in the design department.

They had three children, two girls and a boy, and now have eight grandchildren. When asked about advice for people to have a long and happy marriage, Pauline said “tolerance”. She said: “You have to forgive the daft things and start with the idea that it is a life-long commitment. You don’t give up, it takes effort.”

Eventually they decided to retire to the sea, but Pauline was adamant it wasn’t going to be Worthing, having holidayed in the South Hams before and with an aunt they visited in Salcombe, they settled on Kingsbridge and moved in 1992, they have lived here ever since.

“We have very much enjoyed living in Kingsbridge”, Pauline said, “we joined the Ramblers group and were made to feel very welcome and loved the area.”

Congratulations to Peter and Pauline on their Diamond Wedding Anniversary from all of us at South Hams Newspapers.