A sparkling duo who are still ‘having a laugh’
ALEX SCAPENS
LAUGHTER has been the key to a long and happy marriage for a couple who are celebrating their diamond anniversary.
Shirley and Brian McMillan, from Accrington, were wed on August 9, 1958, and they have been ‘having a laugh’ ever since.
They marked their 60th wedding anniversary with a short break in the Yorkshire Dales with their granddaughter Tiffany McMillan and a party for family and friends at the Three Fishes, in Mitton. And despite being together for six decades they have never stopped enjoying each other’s company.
Shirley, 78, said: “We can still have a good laugh together and Brian still makes me laugh.
“Laughter is the big thing, it means you are never down or depressed and go back and remember situations that you can still have a laugh about years later.
“I suppose it is quite an achievement to be together 60 years.”
The couple met in 1956 at a dance and within a year had decided to get married.
They saved up and were wed at West End Methodist Church, on Blackburn Road, Oswaldtwistle.
After a few days’ honeymooning in Blackpool they settled at Queens Road, in Accrington, although now live at Balmoral Road.
Brian, 79, worked as a driver for a dairy and then as an HGV driver while Shirley was a design tracer at a printing outfit.
They have two sons Ivan, 59, and Clive, 57, as well as four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Over the years the couple have enjoyed holidaying in Spain and day trips out to markets.
And Shirley still vividly remembers the day they got married.
She said: “We met at a dance and Brian came over to speak to me, my first impression was that he was a good dancer.
“I remember our wedding day, we were concerned about the weather being bad but it was nice.
“I was nervous as I don’t like being the centre of attention. Brian lived across the road so he had no excuse to be late and everything went well.”