A married couple who live at The Hillings residential care home in Eaton Socon, St Neots, have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

Den and Cynthia Harper, aged 96 and 92 respectively, moved into The Hillings in March this year, having been devoted to one another since they met in their late teens.

The couple met when Cynthia, who was born and brought-up in Eynesbury, was 15 and Den was 18. The pair were punting with friends on the river side and have memories of the two groups of friends meeting and the boys playfully tying some rope to Cynthia’s boat and towing her and her friends along the river.

Den later bumped into Cynthia in St Neots town centre, where he asked Cynthia to go on a date with him. She agreed and they went to the local picture house, where Den paid and “treated her like a queen”.

The couple married on the May 15, 1948 early in the morning at 8am as Cynthia wanted to be in Bournemouth for their honeymoon by midday; they honeymooned for a week and when they returned, they started their life together in St Neots.

Den worked at the Barford power plant as a fitter, while Cynthia worked in clothes shops. Together they had three children – Kevin, Pat and Jan and have eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Deb Wiltshire, manager of The Hillings said: “Den and Cynthia have spent 70 happy years together and when we asked Cynthia what the secret has been to a long and happy marriage, she said it is because they know how to make each other smile. We were delighted to help Den and Cynthia celebrate such a momentous anniversary with their friends and family; they are such a lovely couple and it’s great that we can support them both here at The Hillings, enabling them to receive the individual care they need, yet under the same roof. They are an inseparable couple and we are so happy to sharing this special occasion with them.”