A COUPLE celebrating 60 years of ‘blissful’ marriage have received a telegram from the Queen.
Jack Snead met his wife Joan in 1950 at the former Palace Cinema in Buckley after he spotted her standing in the queue through the window of a pub.
He chanced his arm and rushed outside to buy a ticket before sliding into an empty seat beside her and romance began to blossom.
“I was in a pub called the Bluebell and I just went out and bought a ticket for whatever she was watching,” said Jack.
“I wouldn’t change her for the world.”
Jack had just completed his National Service before returning home at the age of 21.
Joan, then still a pupil at Hawarden Grammar School (now Hawarden High School), recalled: “There was a space at the side of me and he asked if he could sit there – then afterwards he walked me home.”
The pair got engaged as soon as Joan turned 16 before they married two years later, on March 14, 1953.
“I am blissfully happy,” Joan continued. “He never argues with me – I wouldn’t let him win anyway,” she joked.
Jack and Joan received a telegram from the Queen on the morning of their anniversary, and then believed they had to pay £1.09 to receive it due to the wrong postage being applied, only to discover the charge was for another item.
The couple, who have a son, a daughter, three granddaughters and two great-grandchildren, celebrated their anniversary with family and friends at Buckley’s Windmill Grill.
They have lived at the same address in Alyn Road for 51 years and Joan added: “I wouldn’t leave Buckley for anything.”