LOVED-UP Ken and Sheila Barton from Great Sankey were the first couple to walk down the aisle at Hebron Church in Longford and, sixty years later, they have never left each others’ side.

The happy couple, who will celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary today, Thursday, first set eyes on each other when Ken was aged 20 and Sheila was aged 19.

Retired retail worker Sheila, aged 83, said: “He came to meet me after my music lesson. His cousin had set it up and he was a gentleman and walked me home and we have been together since.”

Four and a half years after they first met, the couple said ‘I do’ in front of 80 guests at the church on St Stephens Avenue before ending the celebrations at Carter’s Cafe on Bridge Street, which has since closed down. 

The couple, who spent their honeymoon on the Isle of Man, have three children, Michael, Pauline and Susan, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Ken, aged 84, who served in the army for two years after joining on November 20, 1947, before working as an engineer, said the couple’s faith has played a strong part in seeing their relationship survive the test of time.