THERE may have been a heatwave this week, but when June and Howard Jones tied the knot 60 years ago the town was in the midst of a blizzard.

Snowballs were thrown instead of confetti and the vicar was wearing Wellington boots when the couple got married at Christ Church on March 29, 1952.

The couple who live in the town centre, met at a dance in the Scout hut, in Dowling Street, in 1946 while Howard was on a 72-hour pass from the Navy.

“I was at the dance with a friend and we saw two girls dancing together,” said the 82-year-old.

“He said I’ll have the one with the hair all on top.

“I said ‘no I’m going to dance with her’.

“I was in love with her when I first met her and I still am. I wouldn’t swap her for anything else.”

Their first date was at Regent Cinema to see Pinocchio the next day and it was June’s 18th birthday.

They were together for nearly six years before they got married and June wore a white dress and had four bridesmaids.

Their reception after the ceremony was held in the town hall.

June, 83, said: “We got married in a blizzard. It was a terrific blizzard, it was all in the papers.

“The vicar had Wellington boots on. When he stood by the altar to take the service I thought he was incontinent because he was standing in a pool of water. It was all on the stone floor.

“All the people outside weren’t throwing confetti, they were throwing snowballs and the bridesmaids had mink fur capes on their shoulders.

“It was a funny wedding, something different.”

June and Howard have three children, Christopher, Melinda and Wayne, as well as nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

The couple will be celebrating at Ashford Road Club this weekend with 36 friends and family.

“We’re going to have a bit of a spread up there,” said June.

Howard said there are three secrets to staying together for so long. “I think it’s patience, perseverance and love. The most important of those things is love,” he said.