Carrying on camping after 60 years together
A couple proved diamonds are definitely forever as they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with a family glamping trip.
George, 80, and Joan Simmonds, 83, who live in Bearsted, married at Christ Church, near Echo Square, Gravesend, on August 8, 1956.
They celebrated 60 years together at Tanner Farm Park, near Marden, camping with their family, and also enjoyed afternoon tea and a night at the Hythe Imperial Hotel.
George said the secret to their long and happy marriage was that they laughed all of the time and had hardly argued in all of the time they had been together.
But a shaving cut on the big day 60 years ago meant he almost didn’t make it to the church on time as he had to do a mad dash to find a new shirt, back in the days when shops closed early on a Wednesday.
Daughter Jill Peaurt said: “They got married on a Wednesday as my mum was chief cashier for the Co-op department store in Gravesend and couldn’t have the same Saturday off as her bridesmaid, her sister Rose.
“Their reception was held in my dad’s parents’ pub, The Bricklayer’s Arms, in Snodland. On the morning of the wedding my dad apparently dropped a piano on his dad’s foot.
“My grandad spent the day with one shoe on and a slipper on the other foot!
“Their honeymoon was a trip to London see a new rising star – Shirley Bassey in concert, followed by a week running my grandparents’ pub.”
The pair met at Rochester’s Medway Roller Dance and Social Club in 1952, and George said he fancied Joan the moment he met her.
The pair have always enjoyed roller-skating, and continued their adventurous spirit by holidaying abroad and camping.
They have two daughters, Jill, 53, and Carol, 50, and five grandchildren.
George was in Kent Police for some years and then worked in the motor trade – eventually owning and running his own insurance assessing business.
He’s a keen motorcyclist and now restores and shows vintage motorbikes, riding them with old mates when he can.
Jill added: “Mum in particular was thrilled to receive the card from the Queen, and our youngest daughter always says her nan looks like the Queen.”