Diamond couple are still busy on the farm
ADIAMOND marriage of milk and honey will be celebrating its 60th anniversary next week.
Ken and Margaret Holden, of Croft Top Farm in Rising Bridge, were married on April 21, 1960 at St James Parish Church in Haslingden.
Ken, 81, and Margaret, 79, have lived at the farm throughout their married life, and built up a dairy farm with three milk rounds serving Haslingden, Helmshore and Baxenden over 30 years. Both went out delivering milk along with their daughters Elizabeth and Caroline.
After proving their partnership was made of the white stuff, Ken and Margaret diversified out of dairy farming in 1990.
The hard-working couple also have a son-in-law Tony, and two granddaughters Sarah and Victoria, and together the family also runs a highly successful equestrian centre, home of the North West Open
Championships. Granddaughter Sarah Lundy, who runs the centre’s livery yard of around 70 horses, said her grandparents are still very hands-on. She said: “They work really well together, they have always been together and are never apart.
“They are my go-to if I need anything. Grandma is in the cafe all the time and grandad always on the tractor and still works the farm.
“He was out rolling the fields a few days ago and my grandma drove up and gave him his lunch.
“We cannot get him to slow down!”
The couple’s daughter Elizabeth said they are quite different characters, as her dad likes to be outdoors and her mum indoors, but they complement each other well.
She said: “My dad is still very much involved in the business, and my mum does a lot of baking.
“They are a very familyorientated couple. They like to go to Tenerife to the same hotel every year and like to have a week there.”
Due to the current situation, the family has had to postpone its planned anniversary celebrations.
Elizabeth added: “We are hoping to have a party later in the year.”