Diamond celebration for devoted Doncaster couple

John and Pat Brabham, both 80, of Lockesley Avenue, met in the Eagle and Child after John moved to Conisbrough from the Rhondda Valley in South Wales in the mid 1950s.

John had made the move with his family when his father, known as Jack, came to work at Cadeby Colliery. John himself was forbidden from working in the mines so took up a job with Dewhursts the butchers.

In her early working life, Pat worked in the mills before going on to work in the munitions factory at Denaby.

Just three weeks after they married on 25 July 1959, John was called up for National Service and spent much of his two-year service in Singapore and the Far East.

Pat spent much of the 1960s working in the fields doing everything from wringing beetroot to picking potatoes, before she later turned to factory work. After his National Service, John tried his hand at several jobs before training as a machine setter.

Since their retirement, Pat and John who both ended their working life at Peglars, have travelled extensively and ticked off many places on their bucket list.

The couple, who have two children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, spent their diamond anniversary on the Greek island of Rhodes, before returning home to a celebratory message from the Queen and a family barbecue.