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More than six decades after sharing their first kiss on a blind date, a loving couple have celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.

Gordon and Sheila Frith, 82 and 81 respectively, received a congratulatory card from King Charles III to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.

They marked the occasion with an afternoon tea arranged by staff at Springbank House Care Home, Ashgate Road, in Chesterfield.

Gordon makes regular visits to see Sheila at the care home and was surprised when staff ushered the couple into the in-home café for a special meal.

Gordon and Sheila Frith, 82 and 81 respectively, marked the occasion with an afternoon tea arranged by staff at Springbank House Care Home, Ashgate Road, in Chesterfield.

They were served a specially made cake adorned with a photo of them cutting their double-tiered wedding cake in 1962, alongside cupcakes, mince pies, and a pot of tea.

Gordon said: “Thank you to all the staff for celebrating 60 years of a beautiful marriage to my darling wife.”

The couple first met in the late 1950s, after being set up on a blind date at Woodseats Working Men’s Club, in Sheffield, where they shared their first kiss.

They got engaged in 1960 and married two years later at St Thomas Church, in Sheffield, after which they had their honeymoon in London.

The couple cutting their double-tiered wedding cake in 1962

After they married, they moved to Hasland, where they raised their two daughters, Helen and Catherine.

Gordon worked on the coal board, as a motor mechanic, and Sheila spent 10 years as a secretary and then, in 1988, became a cleaner at a Derbyshire care home, before retiring in 2005.

She later moved to Springbank House Care Home in June 2021.

Michelle Waddington, home manager at Springbank House Care Home, said: “We were delighted to put on a special spread to congratulate Gordon and Sheila on their amazing diamond wedding anniversary.

Gordon and Sheila received a congratulatory card from King Charles III

“Sixty years married is an incredible milestone and we feel honoured we were able to share it with such a lovely couple. Congratulations again to Gordon and Sheila.”

Gordon and Sheila are one of the first couple’s to receive a card from King Charles III and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, to congratulate them on 60 years of marriage. The card offers the monarch’s ‘warmest congratulations and heartfelt good wishes’.

Diamond Chesterfield couple celebrate their 'beautiful marriage' with afternoon tea celebration