Lennoxtown couple celebrate diamond wedding anniversary

Chrissie and Joe Collins were visited by Provost Alan Brown and depute Lord Lieutenant Dr Gill Aitkenhead at they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary

Lennoxtown couple Chrissie and Joe Collins celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary earlier this month.

They met at the Highlander Institute Dance Hall in the mid 1950s. Chrissie lived on a farm near Mount Vernon, and Joe, being from the east end, had never seen a cow or a chicken until he visited her.

At the time, Joe was on leave from the RAF as he was doing his national service. He had been planning to stay on in the RAF as he had been offered the opportunity to go to Officer Training College but changed his mind and headed back to Glasgow to marry Chrissie.

They were married on June 3, 1961, in Mount Vernon Church and set up home in the area before moving to Bishopbriggs in 1968.

They lived there until 1988 when they moved to Kilmarnock, before moving back to Lennoxtown in 2007.

Joe trained as a typewriter mechanic and worked for Purdie & Kilpatrick before joining the Prudential Assurance Co Ltd in 1963 where he worked until he retired in 1992.

Chrissie was a comptometer operator with Milanda Bakeries, before joining Joe at the Prudential in 1975 and worked there until she retired in 1993.

Chrissie, who turns 81 at the weekend, was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a major hysterectomy in April.

However, she was determined to be fit and well for June 3 and is now as active as ever.

The original celebration plan was to have a ‘big do’ but lockdown restrictions have scuppered that.

Instead, East Dunbartonshire provost Alan Brown and deputy Lord Lieutenant Dr Gill Aitkenhead visited them at home in the morning of their anniversary.

Then in the afternoon enjoyed a champagne cruise in a speedboat on Loch Lomond, Chrissie had a long held ambition for a ride in a speedboat.

A small family celebration also took place in the back garden, and once restrictions are lifted will have a bigger event for family and friends.

The couple have three children, Elizabeth, Stewart, and Kenneth, who are married to Andy, Maureen and Lorraine respectively.

They also have six grandchildren, Gillian (who turned 25 on June 4), Mhairi (22), Anna (22), Kirsten (21), Ewan (who turned 18 on the day of their anniversary), and Adam (15).