IT may be a clich�, but the secret of 60 years of marriage really is give and take, according to a WGC couple. Ron and Margaret Howard celebrated their diamond anniversary on Friday, August 27.

The couple first met in 1948 when Margaret, then 20, was a window dresser nearby where Ron, then 18, started up business as a furniture and carpet dealer in Barnet.

Within two years of courting and after “a bit of persuasion” from Ron, the two married on a Sunday in High Barnet.

“It was love at first sight for me,” said the 80-year-old former owner of Rolands Carpets. “I think Margaret took a while, but we got there in the end.

“I think the main thing was that we got on very well with each other and that’s all that matters.

“There’s no point lying, you go through tough times down the years, but it’s how you deal with them that counts.

“People these days seem too quick to walk away from things.”

Ron, who was also the landlord for a list of business properties in Hatfield, said: “When I first saw Margaret I thought she was very beautiful, so after a while I asked her out, before anyone else got her.

“Sixty years have flown by. It’s only when you look back you remember just how different times were back then.

“We have been very lucky, and although we haven’t been in the best of health at times, we still have our marbles and our memories, not everyone our age can claim that.”

The couple moved to WGC in 1954 and by 1964 they were living at their current home in Haldens.

Since their marriage they have shared “many happy memories together”, according to Margaret, 82.

They have seven children, 17 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, who they are all “extremely proud of”.