Two Island couples have celebrated their diamond wedding anniversaries.

When Ron and Pip Hunn and Pam and Jozef Adach married, George VI – he of The King’s Speech fame – was on the throne and only 46 per cent of British households had a bathroom.

For the Hunns, it was a childhood friendship which blossomed into romance and a 60-year marriage which they celebrated on Thursday.

They were both born in High Street, Queenborough, where Pip’s mother ran the general store.

The pair were friends during their school days and when Ron left at 18 to join the Royal Navy, they agreed to write.

The couple’s marriage at Queenborough church was followed by a reception in a room above the store, but with the times hard, there was no honeymoon.

After leaving the Navy, Ron, 82, worked at Queenborough Potteries for 17 years and served as one of the town’s retained firefighters. He went on to work at Sheerness Docks, retiring as a foreman at the age of 63, after 22 years’ service.

Pip, 80, worked at the former Woolworths before getting a job at the Canning Town Glass Works and later in the canteen at the Sheerness steel mill.

The couple, of Foxley Road, Queenborough, had two children – Stephen and Sharon.

They also have four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren and are both keen bowlers, playing for Queenborough Bowls Club.

They put the success of their marriage down to sharing in the good times and bad.

Ron said: “We do everything together. We share things and if we have problems we sort them out together.

“Anybody who has been married for 60 years and says they have never had an argument must be dumb!”

For the Adachs, it was love at first sight which has lasted six decades. They were joined by family and friends at a party to mark their 60 years of marriage at Invicta Lodge in Minster on Saturday.

Their actual anniversary was last Thursday but they waited for the weekend to celebrate.

Islander Pam, 77, met Jozef, 87, who is Polish, at Eastchurch Working Men’s Club when he had come to Sheppey after finishing his service in the Army.

The couple, of Kent Avenue, Minster, married at Minster Abbey on March 10, 1951.

Jozef worked as a long distance driver for Sheppey Glass Works and Queenborough Rolling Mill until he retired and Pam was a nurse auxiliary.

They have two children – daughter Kim and son Michael – six grandchildren and a seven-year-old great-grandchild.

Pam said it was love at first sight for them and the secret to a long and happy marriage is to take each day as it comes and enjoy each others’ company.