Toy Boy at 90

Bernard is 90 years old and Hetty is 91 and they have been together since they met in London during the Blitz.

The secret of their long marriage is simple according to Bernard.

"I give and she takes," he commented, while Hetty commented: "It is a question of how much you love someone, and also how you can get together on things, or agree in other words. We have our moments when we hate one another but we are not quarrelsome or anything like that."

Bernard grew up with four brothers and a sister in Northampton and worked in the building trade before and after WW2. He joined the Northants Yeomanry as a tank driver but it was on a visit to London in 1940 for a mechanics course that he met Hetty. He was with a group of friends and so was she, but their relationship grew quickly and they were engaged by Christmas that year.

They settled in Croydon after the war, and brought up two daughters - Pauline and Lynne.

They lived in East Grinstead for a while, then moved to Bexhill in 1985 and live in The Barnhams.

Their family continues to grow - Lynne had two sons, David and Christopher - and they have three great-grandchildren who are Ben, Emily and Samuel.

They celebrated their anniversary on April 13 and now have a new milestone in mind, as Bernard said: "The next thing is 70 years of course - in two years' time."