A couple who used to own a restaurant and hotel in the heart of St Ives are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary this month.

John and Liz Triggs, of Victoria Crescent, in Wyton, bought a unit in East Street in 1982 and transformed it into Oliver’s restaurant.

Realising the success of their business venture, the pair then bought another property in Needingworth Road, where they built Oliver’s Lodge – a hotel which is still there today.

John, 81, met Liz, 80, in 1954 when he was a drummer in a band and she was studying at catering college.

“She liked me because I could dance well, and she was a beautiful young lady,” John, who still plays the drums, told The Hunts Post.

The couple married in Hampshire, on March 30, 1957, with Liz trained as a chef and John, having left music behind, serving in the RAF.

John said: “I was very lucky because a lot of RAF people move every two years, but I started at Wittering and then went to RAF Benson and was a member of the Queen’s Flight.”

John’s next posting, however, was slightly further afield in Cyprus, where the couple stayed before moving to RAF Wyton in 1971.

Returning to the UK, John and Liz embarked on a new adventure, running The Stukeley Country Hotel before setting up a restaurant and hotel in St Ives.

Liz and John are parents to Mark, Joanne, Sian, Chris and Daf, and have 12 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren, with another on the way.

When asked what the secret is to 60 years of happy marriage, John joked: “I say ‘yes’ dear.

“You’ve got to talk about things when things don’t go right and it’s just worked for us,” he added.