THIS smiling Hampshire couple are today looking back on 60 years of happy marriage after first meeting at Southampton's ice rink.
Roy and Jenny Hayter, from East Wellow, are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary with a family meal.
The couple, who have three daughters Pamela, Lynne and Karen and six grandchildren Bethany, Harvey, Georgina, Harry, Charlotte and James, share a wedding anniversary with one of their daughters and one of their granddaughters.
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Jenny, now aged 80, was an ice skating teacher when she first met 82-year-old Roy in the early 60s.
She was enjoying a night off at the legendary Southampton Ice Rink at Banister Park where Roy had travelled to for an evening out with friends from his family home in Sherfield English.
The couple married at St Jude's Church in Shirley Warren on April 13 1963, with Jenny and her father walking the short distance to the ceremony from their home across the road.
The Hayters lived in Bunny Lane, Sherfield English while Roy ran the family business Hayter Engineering nextdoor with his brother and Jenny continued her teaching and then ran some bed and breakast rooms as their daughters grew up.
After their retirement, the couple moved to a bungalow overlooking fields in East Wellow, with ice cream parlour and tea rooms Carlo's nearby! Their garden is the pride and joy of this green-fingered pair who have particularly fabulous rose and clematis sections.
The Hayters have been involved in Sherfield English Bowls Club for many years where Roy remains chairman and the couple have helped organise many tours and teas for its 65 strong membership.
They also love to travel, enjoying cruises all over the world, including The Caribbean, America and Canada.
Roy also had a penchant for motorcycle grasstrack racing in his youth and likes to tinker with the Ford Corsair he is restoring.
The couple renewed their vows on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary.
In the year they wed, US President John F Kennedy was assassinated, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech, Beatlemania began and Lawrence of Arabia won Best Picture at the 35th Academy Awards.
A gallon of petrol cost 5 shillings, a new Ford Cortina £675 and the average house price was £3,160.
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