THERE was a big family gathering at Hatton Court near Gloucester when Fred and Thelma Roberts celebrated 60 years of marriage last week.

Things were vastly different in 1943 when the Tutshill couple met – Fred, in the Navy, had been sent with another chap to Chepstow to pick up the first landing craft built in the docks.

"They were sent to lodge with us – I can remember opening the door to them. It was a green door, and ever since then the Frankie Vaughan song, Behind the Green Door, has raised a chuckle for us," said Thelma.

The two men took the landing craft down to Cardiff, then on to Swansea and across to Appledore in Devon where there was a naval base. Then they went to Plymouth where Thelma and Fred met up again.

"We met on Monday, got married on Wednesday and then I set sail for the Mediterranean on the Sunday – and I was away for two years," said Fred.

There followed several scrapes in the Med, including getting stranded on the self-same landing craft 50 miles inside enemy territory after hitting a sandbank.

The two had two sons and a daughter, but unfortunately recently lost one of their sons. There are six grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

"We're very close, all of us," said Fred, a Scot born in Edinburgh.

Thelma, a Chepstow girl, said they once lived in Monmouthshire and Fred worked in Tutshill. "He could joke he was a Scotsman with a home in Wales and a job in England," she said.

"When they ask us the secret of a happy marriage Thelma says it's all about doing the right things to bring the children up properly," said Fred. "I think that's right."

He enjoys gardening and is a keen Liverpool supporter, while Thelma likes whist and a bit of bingo, and enjoys the social life at Sedbury Senior Citizens where she is chairman.