A COUPLE who met in a cinema queue celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary yesterday.
Frances Donkin, 80, was 16 when she met her husband, Dixon, 81, a former ironworks plater, miner, and bus garage worker.
Mrs Donkin, who was a glass-cutter at Colmore Adhesives, in Low Fell, was in a cinema queue with friend Agnes Nicholson at the time, and Agnes ended up marrying Mr Donkin's friend, John.
Mr and Mrs Donkin courted for four years before tying the knot and settled in Chester-le-Street, where they still live.
They have two sons, Colin and Alan, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
Yesterday, they celebrated 60 years of happy marriage with a party attended by family and friends.
Among the guests were Mrs Donkin's sister Jenny, who was her bridesmaid, and John and Agnes Nicholson, who have remained the couple's friends.
Mrs Donkin said: "We have kept in touch with our friends, and the best man was supposed to come, but he was too ill.
"We courted for four years and never thought of anything else but getting married."
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