THE historic tradition of Witney Feast is particularly special for one couple – it was where they met more than 60 years ago.

Sydney and Barbara Morton, of The Downs, Standlake, returned to the annual festivities in the town earlier in the month to take a trip down memory lane.

It was in 1947 that the couple first clapped eyes on one another.

Mr Morton, 80, said: “My younger sister, Margaret, was with my wife at the time and I was with my mates.

“They were stopping at Witney.

“My wife had to go home, but she was frightened to ride home as it was dark. She rode on with me and that’s how it started.”

The couple courted for two years before marrying on September 29, 1949, at Witney Register Office.

They celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary yesterday with their two children – Sydney, 59, and Mandy Fox, 45 – their two grandchildren and their one-year-old great-granddaughter.

The couple have lived in Standlake for most of their lives.

Mrs Morton, 77, whose maiden name was Harris, moved to the village in 1938 and Mr Morton in 1942.

Mrs Morton said: “We both used to work on the land.

“He was a farm worker and I used to help to do different things.

“We still do gardening together – we just help each other.”

Mr Morton, who later worked at a pie factory in Witney, said of the secret to a long marriage: “You have got to give and take.

“I don’t think we have ever had a serious quarrel in our married life.

“We have had arguments like everybody, but we have never had a serious row.”

Mrs Morton added: “We ride the bad with the good and the good with the bad, as they say.”