'GIVE and take' is the key to a happy marriage say a couple who will celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary on Thursday.

Derek and Brenda Taylor, of Calow Drive, Leigh, are still very much in love after 60 years of wedded bliss and will mark the landmark anniversary with a party with close family and friends on Sunday.

They have two daughters, four grandchildren and four great grandchildren, with another on the way.

Army veteran Derek, 79, said: “It is a great achievement to be married so long.

"When I was little I didn’t have a family. It was just my mum and I and my ambition was to be a husband and a father to a happy family – and Brenda has made all that come true.

"Grandchildren and great-grandchildren are a lovely bonus.

"I am very proud."

Brenda, 83, added: “With all the ups and the downs that life brings we have always worked together and supported each other.

“We have a wonderful family and have had a good life together and are very happy.”

Their daughter Wendy Grehan, 54, said: “It is lovely that they have been together so long. I have not seen them argue in my entire life.

“They have always been a real team.”

The couple met while working at British Insulated Callender’s Cables in 1956 and got married at St Thomas Church in Chapel Street, Leigh, two years later while Derek was halfway through his national service.

Brenda suffered a heart attack in 2004 and later a stroke and Derek is now her carer as well as her loving husband.

Derek said: “Brenda has always been very giving and caring and she has always looked after me, so now it is my turn to look after her.

“She can’t do as much as she used to but she is still there for me and we work together like we always have. It is all about give and take.

“She has always done anything she could for others and I am lucky to have spent my life with her.”