Diamond couple maintain their sparkle after 60 years

Betty and Bernard Povey, from Juniper Green, will be celebrating their diamond wedding on Wednesday with a special family dinner at the Baberton Golf Club.

Although Bernard was born in Plymouth, Devon, in 1927, he moved to the Willowbrae area at the age of five with his widowed father.

He went to Parsons Green Primary School and then to Broughton High School.

Betty was born in Edinburgh, also in 1927, and was the youngest of two brothers and one sister. They were brought up by her widowed mother in the Gorgie area.

She attended Tynecastle School, apart from a short time during the war when she was evacuated to Lasswade.

Bernard was a young soldier when he met Betty at a dance at Manclark's Social Club in Morningside in 1946. But shortly after the couple met, he was posted abroad with the Palestine Police Force and spent nearly two years away.

However, Betty and Bernard wrote to each other often, each amassing bundles of love letters and poems. Bernard also always kept a picture of Betty beside his bed.

Bernard returned in 1948 and the couple were soon married in St Bride's Church, Dalry, on 31 March, 1950.

Bernard then joined the Edinburgh City Police force – later Lothian and Borders Police – where he worked for nearly 30 years.

Bernard retired in 1978 as an Inspector.

Betty was a legal secretary with a firm of solicitors.

Bernard is a keen bowler and attends art classes, while Betty is very involved with the Scottish Women's Rural Institute, the local church and the Order of the Eastern Star.

The couple raised four children – Hilary, Fiona, Stuart and the late Ewen – and also have four grandchildren, two great grandchildren and a third due in August.

To celebrate their 60 years of marriage, the family are taking the couple on a holiday to the Lake District later this year.