A couple who met at a youth club in Brentford have some advice for budding romantics after celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary - never let a disagreement fester.
Alf and Sylvia Croxford met in 1950 at Air Ducts youth club, in what was then Lionel Road School, and tied the knot four years later at St Nicholas' Church, in Chiswick.
They marked 60 years of marriage last Thursday with a family meal at The Bull's Head pub in Strand on the Green, Chiswick, where they were joined by, among others, their two sons Mark and Lee.
Asked the secret to a successful marriage, Alf, who is 84, said it was important to air your grievances rather than letting them eat away at your relationship.
"We've never let our disagreements fester. We're not Derby and Joan and we've had our share of arguments but we always made sure not to let them snowball," said the former sheet metal worker.
"She's been an amazing wife and we've had two wonderful sons together so I'm very lucky."
Alf's formula for marital bliss has been working since the couple began their courtship in 1950 at cinemas in Hammersmith, including the Gaumont Palace (now the Eventim Apollo), the Regal (now a Cineworld) and the Commodore.
"I can't remember what we saw on our first date because we went to the pictures so often back then. In those days coming from families in small houses that was the only privacy you got," he said.
Having finished his apprenticeship, Alf completed his two years of national service with the RAF, during which they wrote frequently and spent any free moments together, and they married soon after.
The couple, who grew up in Chiswick, spent six years together in a flat in Paxton Road, Chiswick, before moving to Salisbury Road, Northfields, where they lived for 42 years.
They have been at their current home, a bungalow in The Ridge, Whitton, for the last 12 years, and are both members of Whitton Social Centre, in Kneller Road, where Alf still exercises and plays table tennis.
Alf said Sylvia, who will be 81 this Saturday (September 27), worked at the Warners factory in Power Road, Chiswick, making tablets and lotions for back pain. She was a keen knitter and still crochets, while Alf enjoys oil painting.
The diamond couple had no shortage of well-wishers on their anniversary, as you can see from the impressive array of flowers they received.
Among those offering their congratulations was the Queen, who sent a card. She is due to celebrate the 67th anniversary of her marriage to Prince Philip this November.
