A couple who met as teenagers on VE Day have celebrated seven decades of marriage.
Betty and Ken Hutton marked their platinum wedding anniversary on Tuesday (September 10) and have put their long marriage down to a good sense of humour.
The couple met as teenagers in Gloucester Park on May 8 1945 attending VE Day celebrations to mark the end of World War Two.
Mrs Hutton, 90, said: "Everyone was out on VE Day. Ken was on his way to an air cadet meeting and I was in park with a friend. A mutual friend introduced us. There were all sorts of things going on. I noticed him and I think the feeling was mutual."
Soon after meeting, Mr Hutton went into the army but would return and visit his wife-to-be while on leave.
The couple spent two years apart between 1946 and 1948, but wrote to each other while Mr Hutton was abroad.
Mrs Hutton, who owned her own hairdressing business for 40 years, said: "There was no email or phone calls in those days and the air mail would take over a week to arrive. He tells me, 'I got more mail than anybody else'. They used to rib him as he always got more than them.
"We have had a lot of fortune. He has a sense of humour. We both have a sense of humour, we get on with things quickly and make a joke about it."
Mrs Hutton wore her cousin's wedding dress as the couple married in St Paul's Church in Gloucester on September 10 1949.
Mr Hutton was born in London and moved to Gloucester in 1943 with his family after his father was reassigned to the area after working for the fire service during the Blitz.
The former engineer had been evacuated from the city to Somerset in 1939.
The couple bought their first home four miles outside Gloucester and had two children, Christopher and Janice.
They retired to Sidmouth after falling in love with the town on a walk of the seafront while staying at the Belmont Hotel.
To mark their anniversary the couple held a party with family at the weekend and held a supper for friends on Tuesday. They also received a card from the Queen.
Mr Hutton, a long serving rugby referee for 30 years, said: "Oh it was [mutual]. My wife is easy to get along with. She doesn't lose her head. She's always got a smile on her face and she always looks beautiful."
The couple have two grandchildren, Steven and Jennifer and one great-grandchild, Giselle.
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