Real Lives: Diamond duo are still dazzling after 60 years

Robert and Janet Kerr, both 83, marked 60 years of marriage at Deans Masonic Hall in Livingston.

They met through friends when they were teenagers and started dating at the age of 17, marrying six years later at North Church, Uphall, on October 20, 1951.

Mr Kerr was an aircraft handler in the Royal Navy and served in the Korean War before being demobbed in 1954.

The couple have two children – Robert, 58, and Lorraine, 53 – and three grandsons, Craig, 37, Stephen, 34, and Gavin, 19.

Their first great-grandchild – a boy – is due in January.

After eight years in the navy, Mr Kerr worked as a bus driver for Scottish Motor Traction for around four years, before becoming a long-distance lorry driver for Russell of Bathgate for more than ten years.

His last position before retiring at the age of 68 was a store floorman at the Yale Locks factory in Livingston.

Mrs Kerr, who is known as Jenny, worked at the Westons biscuit factory in Slateford for eight years before spending around three years as a machinist at the Telegraph Condenser Company in Bathgate.

She went on to work as a machinist at Distribution Transformers Ltd in Broxburn for around 22 years, a position from which she retired at the age of 61 in 1988.

Instead of receiving presents for their diamond wedding anniversary, Mr and Mrs Kerr asked family and friends to make a donation to the Edinburgh and Lothian Prostate Cancer Support Group, which raised more than £1000 for the charity.

Mr Kerr, who was brought up in Livingston Station, is currently receiving treatment for prostate cancer.

Mrs Kerr said: “The charity was delighted with the amount. My husband suffers from prostate cancer and he’s getting well treated, so we thought it was a good cause.”

In their free time, the couple enjoy socialising and playing bingo.

Mrs Kerr, who was born in Slamannan and grew up in Uphall, said: “We go to the old age pensioners’ club at Deans and our daughter takes us to the bingo on a Saturday.”

The couple have spent their married life in Deans, spending more than 20 years on Muirfield Way and the past 11 years in Huntly Avenue.

They were delighted to receive a card from the Queen congratulating them on their special day.

Mrs Kerr said: “There were about 70 people at the party and everybody seemed to enjoy it. There was a good band and good catering, and we both had a good time.

“We had a wee dance.”

Mrs Kerr said she didn’t think there was a secret to a long and happy marriage, adding: “We argue like everybody else.”