Couple from Norton, near Bury St Edmunds, celebrate 65th wedding anniversary after marrying in Elmswell

A couple from Norton have celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary after marrying as teenagers.

Jean Sadler, 83, née Robinson, remembers her husband Brian, 84, from school in Beyton, though they were in different classes.

Both admit that Brian was more interested in motorcycles than girls, until one day when he had left school he noticed his future wife.

Brian, who can still remember the exact bus Jean stepped off, (the 304 Eastern Counties from Stowmarket), said: “I thought she was beautiful.

“As soon as I saw Jean it changed everything.”

The pair spent their first date walking and chatting on a bench, something Brian said was typical of a courtship in the 1950s.

After Brian asked Jean’s father, also a keen motorcyclist, for permission the couple married at St John’s Church in Elmswell on August 22, 1959, aged 18 and 19.

It was a busy day for the groom who had to wake up at 3am to complete his milk round before helping set up for the wedding.

Brian was back on his milk float the next morning as a married man.

The couple went on to have four daughters; Carol, Alison, April and Samantha and then son Steven.

One of the biggest shocks in their marriage was when Jean gave birth to twins Alison and April, with a nurse telling Brian his wife ‘had a surprise’.

Speaking about their family, including 13 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren, Brian said: “We do everything we can to help them and they do everything they can to help us.”

Jean said it was lovely to receive a card from the King and Queen to celebrate their blue sapphire wedding, something that impressed the postman who also delivered a card from Queen Elizabeth II, on their 50th anniversary.

The family celebrated the milestone with a meal at The Victoria in Thurston and Brian had 65 red and yellow roses delivered to Jean.

While at the pub, Jean and Brian were serenaded by the partner of their eldest daughter Carol.

Mark Sutcliffe, from the band Trespass, sang Looks Like We Made It.

Daughter April Gower, 61, described her parents as the ‘heart of of a very close family’.

She said: “Mum and dad absolutely loved having a lot of the family there celebrating with them.

“They are such wonderful parents and deserved to be surrounded with love.”

April said the couple still decorate their bungalow each Christmas, with the help of family members, as they love to see the excitement of children walking past.