Well-known Shrewsbury couple celebrate diamond wedding anniversary

It has been 60 years since Brian and Joan Clayton married in their home town of Halifax.

And it was love at first sight for the pair who met at a dance and went on to have three children, David, Joanne and Daniel, following by four grandchildren.

Brian, 85, and Joan, 78, travelled around the country for work before settling in Shrewsbury in 1974 where he was appointed as the manager of the women's shoe store, Lilley and Skinner.

"Most of our lives have been spent in Shrewsbury," Brian said.

"We were lucky to meet lots of great people in the town. We had a lot of young people working for us on a Saturday and during the holidays. It was a very happy place and a very happy shop.

"We closed the store when the shopping centres were being built and re-opened in the Pride Hill shopping centre. We were the first shop to move in. I look back fondly on our time in the town."

The couple, who now live in The Cedars, in Abbey Foregate, celebrated the occasion on Thursday with more than 50 of their neighbours.

Joan said: "It was a wonderful day. We invited all of the residents to come down and we had caterers who did a beautiful buffer for us.

"We also received a card from the Queen which was a lovely surprise.

"This weekend we're carrying on the celebrations too. We're going out for a meal with our daughter and friends, then we're getting a coach to Chester with 24 of our close friends to have lunch on a canal boat."