A COUPLE have celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at their home in Cirencester last Saturday.

Jean, 71, and John Bibby, 73, married on April 3,1971, in the Church of St Simon and St Jude in Anfield, Liverpool.

The pair marked 50 years of marriage by hosting a garden party at their home with their two daughters, son-in-law and two of their grandchildren.

Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, their son and his two children, who live in California, were unable to join the family in person this year, instead joining via video call.

The couple, who moved to Cirencester in November 1977 have three children, Claire, Helen and Ian, and four grandchildren.

Although, this year’s party was quiet, ten years ago, on their Ruby anniversary their son surprised them by travelling home to see them and they held a joyous celebration at a nearby restaurant.

The two met when Jean was a milliner, making hats for events in Liverpool, at John’s brother’s wedding in July 1969.

They began talking and the rest, is history.

For the last 57 years, John has led a varied career in the architectural profession, working on projects like Regent Arcade in Cheltenham and Gloucester Quays and Jean became a loving housewife.

On April 1, John decided to retire from Yiangou Architects in Dyer Street, where he has worked for over 19 years.

Now both happily retired, the green thumbed couple look forward to spending more time together in their garden.

Jean said the secret to a happy marriage is compromise.

“There has to be some give and take and you need to communicate with each other,” she said.

John added: “Yes, and in our case, we have the same outlook on life which has really helped and we share gardening as a hobby.”

John also believes that having a joint project to work on together has strengthened their marriage.

“We bought a small house in France in 2003 and since then we have been renovating it,” he said.

“It was a blank canvas and we have worked hard to make it place that makes us happy.”