NESSIE Thornton really was a special delivery when she rode to church for her wedding in a horse-drawn cart borrowed from the village milkman.

Sixty years on Nessie and her husband John will be returning to St John the Baptist Church, in Suckley, to relive that memorable day.

The diamond couple, who now live at Lulsley, near Knightwick, were planning to celebrate the big day today with close family and friends.

They have lived in the area all their lives, bringing up four children, Cecilia, Joan, Stella, and their late son Martin. They now have six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Romance blossomed when Nessie, now 81, first spotted farm worker John, 82, on his bike outside the Nelson pub in Longley Green.

"He whistled and asked me to go for a drink but we never went into pubs in those days," said Nessie, who remembers John as "a clean-cut, upstanding young man".

The couple were separated for six months when Nessie went into service in London - but John wrote to her every week and when she returned home for Christmas he was waiting at the station for her.

"I didn't go back to London and got a job as a cook at Malvern Boys College and John would cycle twice a week from Bromyard to visit me - it was then we decided to get married.

"We were very poor in those days and at our wedding we had no bells, no hymns and no cake.

"I remember the car carrying the bridesmaids got a puncture so the local milkman, who was the only one in the village with a horse and cart, offered to give me a lift to the church.

"My mother, who was giving me away, was getting worried as I was about half-an-hour late and I recall her saying we would have to get the next bus if a car didn't turn up soon!"

While Nessie brought up the children, John was a member of the Home Guard during the war and was trained to fight behind the lines if the German's invaded Britain. After the war he worked for AD Cullen at Cotheridge and was in charge of the daily herd for 32 years.

So, what is the secret of such a long and happy marriage?

According to Nessie "We were brought up to keep our promises. Sadly the new generation don't which is why there are so many divorces.