IN 60 years, Tony and Betty Lawrence have never had a major quarrel, never argued about money and still remember that fuzzy feeling when they exchanged letters during courtship.

As Tony, 83, and Betty, 81, from Kelvedon, celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary, it is the perfect time to reflect on why their marriage has been successful.

Considering each other when a cup of tea is in order, having shared goals and airing grievances at the earliest opportunity are just three tips.

However, this modest couple just take each day as it comes.

Tony said: “When we met I was 18 and going into the Forces. It was March 1952.

“I spent three years in the RAF as an MT driver and still have all our letters in a box.

“We’d write about three times a week. I was only in Hornchurch, in Essex, but we’d keep close contact, telling each other what was happening in our lives. I’d say I love her and I used to write ‘signed with a loving kiss’ on the envelope.

“The letters were only about a page-and-a-half long but you looked forward to those few words.”

Once Tony left the RAF aged 21, the couple courted for several years before marrying in August 1957.

But Betty, who lived with her family in Kelvedon at the time after moving from Great Bardfield, near Braintree, was under strict orders from her parents.

Mr Lawrence said: “My mother-in-law said Betty couldn’t get married until she was 21.

“She turned 21 on the Tuesday and we married on the Saturday at Inworth Church.

“Our favourite song was Nat King Cole’s Too Young and we proved to them that we wasn’t.

“Then we had our honeymoon in Guernsey. When we got to the hotel Betty gave them her maiden name straight away but the lady said: ‘This young couple just got married yesterday’.”

Today, two daughters and two grandchildren later, that moment still stirs laughter amongst them.

Tony added: “We’ve known each other for 67 years. Just one look at her and that was it - I was smitten.

“Courting was great. You meet this young lady and look after her and I would cycle down for miles in all weather to see her.

“It all just snowballed from there.”