A WEE COUNTY couple last week celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary after dancing the last 60 years away.

Alexander and Peggy Freck first met at the Cochrane Hall in Alva and their love for dancing has endured as long as their love for each other.

Though they are now retired in their Alloa home, the couple spent the early parts of their marriage moving around a great deal.

They were event out of country a few times as Alex got into a military career, following a brief spell on local farms.

The infantry soldier enrolled into the Camerons and finished in the Argylls.

In fact, he was posted to Dover when Peggy, nee McLaren, was pregnant.

When the telegram came through to say she has had a girl, his captain reportedly said: “I suppose you’ll want leave then?”

He got the weekend off, but was later sent out to Singapore for three years. Peggy, who was born and bred in Alloa, was more than happy to take a jaunt to the Far East.

Originally from Steelend in Fife, Alex found his years in the army coming to an end.

Eventually he settled with a job at the glassworks in Alloa, where he worked for 36 years.

The decorated veteran, who “loved the army”, admitted he would not have left the armed forces if it was not for his wife and young family.

Peggy, after all the travelling as an army wife, took on a job at Paton and Baldwin’s mill before a spell at the council’s Kelliebank office.

Over the years the couple, now 81 and 78, respectively, had two girls and two boys, 13 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, with one more on the way.

They still share many laughs and marked their landmark anniversary with a meal at the Royal Oak.

On the big day, Thursday February 28, the diamond couple received a visit from Clackmannanshire Provost Tina Murphy, who delivered flowers, and Deputy Lord-Lieutenant John MacPherson, whose office sent out the card from the queen.