A COUPLE from Lea, near Malmesbury, are celebrating a truly historic milestone after 70 years of marriage.

Frank and Joan Walker celebrate their platinum anniversary yesterday and will see some of their relatives on Sunday for one of Joan’s sisters’ 93rd birthday.

Frank, 93, said that his wife was one in a million and praised her hard work in the garden, which she still tends.

The pair only recently gave up their car and Frank was in the fields lambing at 92.

Both remembered the way Lea used to be, and said they remembered when there were three cars in the village, where now there are 22.

The pair met at The Priory in Tetbury when Frank worked as a gardener and Joan was employed as a maid. They were due to marry on May 12 but Frank made it home late due to VE Day disruptions and the pair married on May 14 instead.

“We never argue, we just consult each other and talk things through. We’ve never had a row,” said Mr Walker.

“It’s all a case of give and take,” said Mrs Walker, who is 92 this Sunday. “We don’t argue. Well, hardly ever.”

They have two sons, David and Nigel, three grandchildren, Claire, Andrew and Jack, and a great granddaughter, ten year-old Harriet.

The couple will celebrate their platinum wedding with family on Sunday. It will be a double celebration as it is the joint birthday of Mrs Walker and her twin sister Allison.