Two childhood sweethearts celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary last week, in the very same village where they met and made a life for themselves.

Frederick Ronald Sear, 82, and Sylvia Margaret Cory, 81, met when they both attended Staple Village School.

They performed together in the choir, and the pair got to know each other better when attending the youth group in the Staple rectory.

Though Frederick, known as Ron, went to Sir Roger Manwood’s Grammar School and Sylvia attended Sandwich Secondary (now Technology) school, the couple would spend their afternoons and evenings together.

Ron volunteered for three years’ extended National Service at the age of 18.

“By volunteering for twice the normal length of time, he hoped to be posted somewhere nearby like Shorncliffe,” said Sylvia.

“Well he was in England for six months and was then sent to Egypt for the next two and a half years!”

Being allowed only one visit home over the next three years, their romance was kept alive through letters, which the pair wrote daily.

When he returned to Kent in 1955, Ron proposed to Sylvia and the couple got married in Staple church on the April 28, the next year.

The ceremony was followed by a reception in the nearby village hall, where guests had sandwiches, cakes and jelly.

In total, the wedding cost 15 guineas. Shortly afterwards, the newlyweds moved into a cottage “with no mod cons at all”.

Sylvia earned 14 shillings, the modern day equivalent to £24.65, a week, working as a secretary in an estate agents, while Ron worked for his father.

They welcomed their first child Carol in 1957 and she was joined by brother, Grahame, in 1960. Karen completed the family of five in 1966.

Ron’s father gave them four and a half acres of land in Staple, on which they built a house in 1969. The couple then established the Summerfield nursery, originally operating out of only one greenhouse.

The nursery now produces more than 12,000 plants in 30 different varieties and is still overseen by Ron and Sylvia. All three of their children, now in their 50s, work on the nursery, growing and arranging the flowers.

“It’s difficult to get away from it all when you live where you work,” said Sylvia, who is thinking of retiring with her husband.

They celebrated their anniversary by going out for dinner and they enjoyed an afternoon tea party at the Staple Village Hall on Saturday.

Through his time in Egypt, Ron became a lifelong member of The Royal British Legion and is currently the president of the Staple branch. Because of this, he and Sylvia have been given two tickets to the Queen’s garden party on Tuesday, May 24. This will be the first time they have been to the Palace and they are extremely grateful to the Legion for the exciting opportunity.