AN ALLOA couple celebrated 60 years of marriage earlier this week with a small family gathering.

David and Violet Vance, nee Moore, married on July 17, 1962 at the Toryglen Parish Church in Glasgow after meeting at a dance hall in Glasgow.

The couple have two sons, Scott and Dexter, and one grand-daughter named Lucy.

David, now 85, grew up in the Gorbals in Glasgow while Violet, 83, is from Dungannon in Northern Ireland and moved to Glasgow as a teenager.

The couple moved to the Wee County after David got a resettlement job with the Glassworks in Alloa as a production controller. He then worked in Stirling before becoming a driving instructor in Alloa, running the Jubilee School of Motoring.

Violet had various jobs too, working in shops and in care roles. She also had her own business, Violet's Home-Help Service, which was a domestic cleaning business and employed around 15 people.

David was also a keen member of the Glasgow Printing Trades Amateur Rowing Club, where he became a three times Scottish National Rowing Champion.

Scott told the Advertiser: "When we used to go on holiday, quite often we'd find a boating pond, particularly on our holidays in Blackpool.

"You could hire rowing boats or little motor boats.

"My dad would take the four of us out on a rowing boat and because of his skills in rowing, he would row faster than the motor boats."

After they got married and had a family, David volunteered as an officer in the Boys Brigade, running the Junior Sections of the 17th (St Mungo's) and 26th (Moncrieff) Boys Brigade companies.

As well as running the junior section, he also ran a swimming club, renting the swimming pool at Lornshill Academy for the members of the Boys Brigade from all over Clackmannanshire.

When the couple retired they celebrated with a trip around the world, beginning in London, where Dexter was living at the time, then to Hong Kong and onto New Zealand to visit David's best man from their wedding.

They then travelled to Fiji, Los Angeles to stay with David's brother-in-law and eventually made their way back.

Now, the couple enjoy travelling to spend time with Scott and his wife Angela, Dexter and his wife Jacqueline and Lucy, their grand-daughter.

Once the couple retired, Violet suffered from some ill health and David began to look after her.

Violet was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common condition that affects the middle part of your vision.

Scott said: "There's a Forth Valley support group for the macular society which my dad, for a long time, helped to organise. He was the treasurer of that group and actually received recognition from the National Macular Society for [his efforts]."

However, after both David and Violet tested positive for Covid-19 in January last year, the couple decided to take a step back from their activities.

Asked what he thinks is his parents' secret to a long and happy marriage, Scott laughed and said: "I think my dad just does as he's told."