A PICKERING couple are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary today.

Mary Holmes, 81, and her husband Brian, 89, tied the knot in 1961 at the Methodist Chapel in Pocklington, were engaged in Edinburgh, and honeymooned in Llandudno.

Mary said: “He became interested in me about a year or two before we married, having seen me about, and his dad introduced us through the church.”

Brian worked as a builder’s labourer and Mary worked in an office before having their three children, Heather, Deborah, and Paul, and they also have grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

The couple maintain that the secret to a long, happy marriage is to give and take, and to never sleep on an argument. They are celebrating their big day with a family meal.

Mary said: “Brian is quiet, and I’m chatty so we get along well, we enjoy going out together, to church and coffee mornings, and birdwatching at the seaside in Flamborough.”