A HAMPSHIRE couple has celebrated a major milestone.

Malcolm and Rita Mayes spent a day with family and friends to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary.

The couple, who are originally from Brighton but have been living in North Baddesley for the past 40 years, got married in the Sussex town on December 12, 1953.

But they decided to celebrate their anniversary on January 12, when they had a lunch at the British Legion Club in Love Lane, Romsey.

Malcolm and Rita met in 1947 as they became part of the same group of friends.

Malcolm, who is now 86, said their first date was at the cinema.

He proposed in 1952 while they were at Rita’s mum’s house.

“We were cuddling and I popped the question. She could not get away, could she?” Malcolm said.

He said Rita, who is now 87 and worked as hairdresser, is his angel.

She has looked after him for years after he had an accident at work while he was an electronic engineer for the air force.

“We had ups and downs, we had problems but we always overcame them and what I find sad in a lot of people is they give up. She put lots of energy into me to look after me and I’d give her a golden star for it,”Malcolm said.

The couple went to the Isle of Wight for their honeymoon and said they then went on holiday in different places including Spain, Germany and America.

Malcolm said the secret of their long marriage is to give and take.

“We got to be supportive each other. We don’t have a lot of arguments and when we do have an argument I kiss her and we cuddle,”he added.

Talking about Malcolm, Rita said: “I love cuddling with Malcolm. He has helped me tremendously, I was a very quite lady, very timid. He certainly is my best friend. I couldn’t do it without him.He’s very loving. He looks after me.”

The couple has six children, seven grand children and seven great grandchildren.