PILLARS of the Farnham community Barry and Zita Clarke have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with friends and family.

Barry, born in Birmingham on February 18, 1932, the youngest of six siblings, and Zita, born in London on July 17, 1931, the older sister to her brother Michael, met aged 16 at a ballroom dance held for youngsters at the YMCA in the Castle Bromwich area of Birmingham, where they both lived.

They married seven years later on October 8, 1955, at Castle Bromwich Church.

Barry joined the Navy at the age of 20 after completing his national service and served for 25 years, reaching the rank of Fleet Chief before he retired from naval life to join Air Products, based in New Malden, as a planning engineer.

Zita trained as a secretary and worked at HMS Dryad as a personal assistant.

The couple moved to Farnham in 1977, where Zita joined the Farnham Herald team and in semi-retirement pursued her passion for floristry and joined Patricia Knowles, who ran a successful florist shop in Upper Church Lane.

Barry and Zita have three daughters; Sophia, born in Malta where they lived for two years due to a naval posting, Teresa and Kristina.

They also have six grand children - Leah, Luke, Tom, Katie Daisy and Madeleine.

Both Barry and Zita remain keen golfers and play regularly at the Farnham Park par three golf club, where Barry ran the Wednesday morning group sweep stakes until last year.

They have also run the bingo night at the Conservative Club in Ivy Lane every Saturday for the last 15 years, assisted by friends and long-standing bingo fans.

Barry and Zita celebrated their latest milestone at Frimley Hall Hotel last weekend with friends and family, and were delighted to receive their telegram from the Queen.