AS they celebrate 60 years of marriage today, George and Mary Taylor can reflect on a rich family tradition in the coal mining industry and worship in their local Methodist chapel.

Many of the friends who will be attending their diamond wedding party at their home in Cumberland Terrace, Willington, County Durham, will share similar memories.

George, 87, and Mary, 85, met when she worked as a cook and housekeeper for a doctor in Willington.

George lived just across the road from the surgery and they started chatting to each other in the street. And that blossomed into romance.

Since then they have rarely been apart and they believe that "togetherness and learning to share all the ups and downs in life" has been the recipe for a successful marriage.

George, who worked as a colliery engineman at Brancepeth Colliery for 40 years and later at Bearpark for nine years, followed his father John into the mines. Mary's father, Wilfrid, was also a miner.

George has also been a prominent member of Wear Valley District Council, serving as the member for Willington West ward from 1979 to 1995. He was chairman of the council in 1987. He was also a member of the Enginemen's Union and an official of Brancepeth Miners' Welfare for 40 years.

But the love of his life in the 1930s was playing full-back for Willington in the Northern League.

"I was pretty good at it and even thought about turning professional at one time," he said.

Although Mary worked for short times at local clothing factories, she has been quite content to be a housewife.

The couple have a son John, daughter Susan and four grandchildren. They will hold a second diamond wedding party just for the family at the weekend