THE  needs of business don’t stop just because there is a wedding – as Barry and Brenda Barton found when they tied the knot 60 years ago. 

The ceremony at the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Cinderford  took place at 9am on Saturday, March 23, 1957 so that Bruce’s father could get back and open his shop. 

He explained: “It was early because my father had a grocery shop and he had to open up because Saturday was the day everyone came in to pay their bills.”

Brenda added: “He said: ‘If I don’t open the shop, I shan’t get paid.”

Brenda’s aunt ran the Globe pub in Cinderford and would often travel from her home in Lydney to visit.   

The couple met through friends in Cinderford when Brenda was a pupil at Lydney Grammar School and Barry was at East Dean Grammar School. 

After Barry completed his National Service, they both worked in Gloucester and would often meet in the grounds of the cathedral at lunchtimes. 

Barry later worked at Rank Xerox in Mitchel­dean and the couple moved to the village. They moved to Drybrook to be near one of their three daughters. They have four grandchildren. 

Brenda said: “It doesn’t seem that long – we’ve had our ups and downs but we’ve come through it and we’ve had a very good life.”