A DIAMOND couple have celebrated 60 wonderful years together with a cruise.
Ken and Audrey Barnard, both 80, say the key to a successful marriage is to stay friends throughout the years, be able to laugh at one another and just enjoy each other's company.
Ken first noticed Audrey when she visited a friend next door to his home and thought she was "a bit of all right".
The couple officially met at a TA dance at the Westward Ho Barracks and arranged a date at the Wellington Dance Hall soon after.
They then spent 20 months courting before getting married at Old Clee Church, in 1953.
They paid for the wedding themselves, and Audrey borrowed her wedding dress.
But they waited a year before honeymooning in Paris, when they had the money to afford the trip.
Ken recalled: "It was lovely; we've always loved travelling and it was a great start to our marriage together."
"It was as struggle in those first few years but we survived it," added Audrey.
"People didn't think we could do it but we showed them we could."
They spent the first years of their marriage together in a flat in Tasburgh Street and waited five years before they had their first child, Carl.
After worrying about his safety when he rode a tricycle at the top of the flight of stairs, the family moved to the couple's current home, in Penshurst Road, and had their second child, Stephanie, in 1960.
Ken previously worked as a lumper on the docks and Audrey is a former factory worker.
Now, they are the proud grandparents of four granddaughters. Both enjoy gardening and travelling across the globe. In their 60 years together, the couple have visited Russia, Egypt and the Caribbean.
Audrey said: "One of my hobbies is looking after Ken, and fetching and carrying for him while he's in the garden."