Wigan couple won't let lockdown spoil their diamond wedding anniversary

Mary and Harry Latham’s diamond wedding celebrations may be a little lower key than planned, but the biggest treat of all is that they have still got each other.
Harry and Mary on their wedding dayHarry and Mary on their wedding day
Harry and Mary on their wedding day

The couple from Beech Hill admit they have had to put much of the partying with their family on hold because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but in the meantime are delighted with their telegram from the Queen and their own company.

In fact it’s difficult for them to remember a time without each other, having first been acquainted when they both lived on the same street - Beech Grove - when aged 10 and 12 - and they also attended Gidlow Secondary Modern School.

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The Lathams. who live in Bay Tree Road, Beech Hill, previously appeared in the Observer a decade ago when celebrating their golden anniversary and Mary also featured in the local press when she and then baby granddaughter Stacey starred in a Heinz baby food advert on the television.

Mary and Harry outside their home todayMary and Harry outside their home today
Mary and Harry outside their home today

They first started courting as teens, as Mary explained.

“It was a Sunday night and a group of us girls had gone to the Ritz cinema in Wigan.

“Harry was in a group of boys but the cinema didn’t let in big groups of boys, so the trick was for the boys to ask one of the girls to accompany them.

“Harry knowing me, asked me, I said yes and we started going out from then.”

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They were married on March 27, 1960. Mary, who had also attended Sacred Heart Primary in Springfield, had started working at Coops on Dorning Street sewing at the age of 15 and later worked at Heinz (hence the advert opportunity) until she took redundancy at the age of 50.

Harry, who had first gone to Beech Hill Primary, trained as an engineering apprentice in Eccleston before working for a Skelmersdale firm that made nuclear power valves until he retired through ill health in 1994.

They have two children - Michael and Susan - plus five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Susan’s side of the family live in New Zealand and there had been big plans for many of them to come over for the first time in several years).

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It was then the intention for everyone to have a big family gathering at a villa in Marbella.

But coronavirus put paid to that so the visits and holiday have had to be postponed until next year.

However Mary, who turned 80 the day before the 60th anniversary, says she is more than happy with her 82-year-old other half.

Asked for the secret of a long and successful marriage, she said: “We have had our ups and downs but we don’t give in like they do today.

“We get through it and come out the stronger for it.

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“The result is we’ve been happily married for 60 years now.”

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