A BLIND date led to 60 years of marriage for a Netherton couple.
Clifford Shackcloth, 85, and his wife Audrey, 84, were today celebrating their diamond wedding.
They are pictured now and on their wedding day at Salendine Nook Baptist Church.
The couple met in 1936, when Mrs Shackcloth was 15 and Mr Shackcloth was 16.
Mr Shackcloth was born in Great Yarmouth and moved to Huddersfield in 1932 because of his father's job with the railways.
Mrs Shackcloth lived at Crosland Moor. Her friend wanted to go out with Mr Shackcloth's neighbour - so the pair were invited to make up a foursome.
Romance blossomed, but after just three years they were separated when Mr Shackcloth was called up to serve in World War Two.
Mr Shackcloth had trained as a shoemaker at Thomas Walker on Cross Church Street in Huddersfield. But in 1939, he was called up to the RAF. He served for six years, with time in India and Burma.
He was given the Burma Star - awarded for service in the Burma Campaign between December 11 1941 and September 2 1945.
He returned home in December 1945.
He went back to his job at Thomas Walker's for several months before joining David Brown Gears at Lockwood.
He stayed with the company for 36 years.
Before getting married, Mrs Shackcloth worked as a telephonist at the General Post Office in Huddersfield.
She had left Longley Hall School at the age of 15 and spent a year working at Rushworth's department store on Westgate.
When she turned 16, she passed exams to join the civil service and took up the GPO job.
She worked there for nine years.
After getting married she gave up her job but later went back to the GPO for five years in the 1970s, while the standard trunk dialling system was introduced.
Mr and Mrs Shackcloth have four children, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
