Kettering couple celebrate 60 years of marriage

John and Angela Cobley are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Pictures by Alison Bagley.

John Cobley was working in family grocers T A Cobley and Sons when future wife Angela came in for the chocolate and marshmallow snack.

He invited her to a party and, after a couple of years of courting, they wed on October 31, 1959.

Angela said: "I was working in an office in Carrington Street and I went to go and get some lunch from Cobley's in Dalkeith Place.

John and Angela with their children Tim and Sarah. Pictures by Alison Bagley.

"John was working there and asked if I wanted to come to a party.

"We courted for a while and then he said to me 'I think it's time to get married'."

The couple, both 83, were wed at the Holy Trinity Church in Rothwell by Canon George Turner and held their reception at Wicksteed Park.

They then hired a car and went to Brighton on their honeymoon.

They share their anniversary with Halloween - although Angela said it was never mentioned until recent years when it became such a big event.

Asked what their secret to 60 years of marriage was, John said: "Give and take and helping each other.

"Whatever happens we always support each other."

John, a former Kettering Grammar School pupil, was the third generation of Cobleys to run T A Cobley and Sons which was founded by his grandfather Thomas Arthur Cobley.

He initially worked in London in the coffee trade and, after national service, came back to the family business until he retired at the age of 53 and the store closed in 1989.

Angela has spent much of her life involved in local charities and causes in the town.

She led the Woman Royal Voluntary Service in Northamptonshire for many years and volunteered at the Centenary Wing at Kettering General Hospital for 15 years.

The couple, who moved to Broughton in the 1990s, have two children, Sarah and Tim, and two grandchildren, William and Amelia.

They are celebrating the milestone with a family party.

Their son Tim said: "It's great that they have got to 60 years. They are very supportive parents, grandparents and friends.

"They are still very active in associations and groups and are a perfect example of a model couple."