A LOCAL couple have just celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary and were delighted with a special card from King Charles and Queen Camila.

Chris Hawkins first met Dawn, who was helping a friend on the tuck shop at the Longlevens School fete in 1961 in Gloucester.

Chris recalls that he knew Dawn was the one for him from the moment he saw her at the fete.

And after two years of dating Chris asked her parents for her hand in marriage and got married in September 1966 at Longlevens Church followed by a reception was at Down Hatherley Village Hall-

They left the evening reception to start their honeymoon, staying at the first motel, in the Southwest, in Bristol before heading to the Jamaica Inn on the Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.

They spent their married life on Plump Hill in the Forest of Dean raising their two children, Christopher and Lucie where they tended the land and kept a menagerie of animals including goats and Vitamise pigs. The couple moving to Ross-on-Wye during retirement.

The couple put their success in marriage down to working together, even through tough times over the past 60 years.

They worked together towards their goals, buying their first home, raising their children and working hard to provide for their family. They believe that their love keeps growing when they work together and keep looking forward in life.

Dawn said that when England were playing in the World Cup Final in July 1966, she was at the dressmakers getting her dress fitted, which meant that Chris had to listen to the football commentary on the car radio.

As well as having two children, they have three grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

And for the future, the couple planning a return trip to the Jamaica Inn in Cornwall.