A COUPLE have struck gold this weekend as they celebrate 50 years of marriage.

David and Mary Gayler, formerly of Fairford, will be celebrating their marriage milestone with family and friends this Saturday at a party in Gloucester.

The couple, both aged 73, were married at St Barnabas Church in Gloucester on February 22, 1964.

They lived together in Fairford for almost 10 years and then Kempsford for 20 years, raising a family of three daughters, before realising their ambition to own a yacht and sail it to the Mediterranean through the French canals.

Both were very involved in the Gloucestershire community. David was county councillor for the East Cotswolds until 2001 and Mary worked for social services in Cirencester. They were also both keen members of Fairford Amateur Dramatic Society.

Their secret to a happy marriage came from their second daughter Emma, who said that when she was younger she recognised they both shared the same interests.

“When they were part of the amateur dramatic society my father would act or direct and my mother would be stage manager, so they would be together but doing their own thing,” she said.

“Now, when they’re in Spain my mother can wander through the town enjoying the sun and chatting to the locals while my father tinkers with the boat.”

Mary and David live for part of the year on their boat in Tarragona, Spain, and the other part in Gloucester. They have eight grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.