Diamond couple celebrate 60 years

Sheila and Ron Knight, of Field View Drive, Rowley Regis, first met at a wedding for one of Sheila's friends, where she had been on her own before being introduced to her former husband.

The pair talked and enjoyed the party before going their separate ways, until they met at another wedding a few months later.

From there they decided to meet up in their own time, signalling the start of a relationship that would shape both of their lives.

Sheila said: "We got along straight away and it was strange that we kept meeting at these weddings.

"It started to feel like we were compelled towards one another.

"He was very easy to talk to and he drove an Austin Nippy, which was a great bonus."

Sheila, now 79, and Ron, now 84, started off their courting days by going dancing on the weekends at the Red Warrior Club in Earlswood, while they both worked jobs in Smethwick during the week, Roan as a mechanic and Sheila as an office worker.

They got engaged after two years and married on March 23, 1957, with a service at St Matthew's Church followed by a reception at the New Church Inn, both in Smethwick.

They would later raise children Stephen, now 57 and Ian, 48, while continuing their love affair with modern sequence dancing.

To mark their Diamond Wedding anniversary, they will be treating their family, including grandchildren Lewis, 16, Jessica, 15 and Molly, 11, to a meal at one of their favourite restaurants.

Sheila said: "We have stayed happy over the years because we talk things through if we have a problem, we don't let it come between us.

"We sit down and find a way to reach a compromise, which I think is the most important part of keeping a marriage going for so long.

"We are very proud of our family also and putting a lot of time and effort into that helps you see the bigger picture."