Northern Ireland couple join extremely rare club as they celebrate 70 years of married bliss

On the occasion of their 70th wedding anniversary, which fell yesterday, Myrtle, who was 18 when she tied the knot, said she had no regrets.

The pair, who live on a working farm in Derryadd, are now one of the 0.1% of couples in the UK to reach the milestone.

The couple first met over 72 years ago, with William, who will be 93 this week, travelling to see Myrtle on a Saturday night at her home in the Bannfoot area on the southern shores of Lough Neagh between Lurgan and Portadown.

Myrtle recalled that it was while attending a friend’s wedding that William asked the question: “Should we get married?”

The answer was ‘yes’ and on August 19, 1952 in High Street Methodist Church in Lurgan they exchanged vows.

After marrying they set up home on in Derryadd, a short distance from the Bannfoot.

Myrtle and William went on to have three children – Heather, Gary, and Elaine, eight grandchildren – Lydia, Amanda, Ryan, Matthew, Gareth, Graeme, Alison and Cathy, and four great grandchildren – Levi, Oliver, Lyle, and Elle.

Throughout married life the pair enjoyed travelling and have visited family in Canada and America.

They said Lake Garda was a particular favourite holiday destination.

Decades on they stay closer to home but still enjoy what William refers to as their “wee drives”, including the odd trip up to the north coast, and eating out.

When asked what the secret to such a long-married life was, Myrtle answered: “There’s no secret, you take the good with the bad. After all these years I have no regrets.”

Their eldest granddaughter Lydia said: “The whole family are so proud and admire them both as they continue to live independently, which is an astonishing achievement in this day and age.

“They are an amazing set of role models that we are all in awe of.”

She added: “With people leaving it later to get married I don’t think we’ll see many couples celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary in the future.”

To mark the milestone, Myrtle and William’s eldest daughter Heather hosted a beautiful afternoon tea at her home where the entire family joined the couple to celebrate 70 wonderful years.

The only absentee was grandson Graeme who is working in South Africa, and sent a video message.

The icing on the cake for the platinum wedding anniversary was the receipt of a congratulatory card from the Queen, who herself celebrated 73 wedding anniversaries with the late Prince Philip.