REMEMBRANCE Day has always featured largely in the 60-year marriage of a former soldier and his Aycliffe Angel bride.

Even when they celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary this weekend, Percy and Emma Readshaw have made time for their usual major contribution to the Royal British Legion poppy appeal in their home town of Willington.

Percy, 81, chairman of his local branch for more than 20 years, is also a member of the Dunkirk and Normandy Veterans branches in nearby Bishop Auckland.

When he married Emma at St Stephen's church in 1940, he was taking a few days snatched leave from duty in bomb-ravaged Coventry and Birmingham.

He said: "There were young chaps in 1940 who lost their sight. They have been blind ever since and the little bit extra the poppy appeal gives them makes a big difference to their lives."

Percy spent the war with the same unit of the Guards Armoured Division of the Royal Engineers.

Emma made detonators at the Aycliffe munitions factory until she fell and injured her back.

After the war, he drove buses for Bonds until 1960 when the couple set up a milk business, working to build it up over the next 26 years.

They held an open day at home in Mill Street for their friends, followed later by lunch with their family, including their sons Brian and Michael.