"GIVE and take" is the recipe for a happy marriage, says a popular, well-known couple from Sedbergh.

Retired painter and decorator Eric Major and wife Margaret, who worked at Sedbergh School and the old Westmorland Gazette shop in Kendal, will celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary next week.

The pair began meeting socially in Sedbergh with their friends in 1956, the year of Elvis Presley's rise to fame, the Suez Crisis, and Grace Kelly's marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco.

Unbeknown to Margaret, her future mother-in-law May Major was a cook at Sedbergh School's Powell House.

Margaret had moved to the Dales from County Durham, where she and Eric wed at Trimdon Parish Church on August 22, 1959.

They have two children, Julie and Andrew; grandchildren Hayley, Sophie, Dominique, Amber and Adam; and great-grandchildren Cayden, Sienna, Freddie and month-old baby Teddy.

Mr Major, 84, did his National Service with the Royal Artillery. His working life began as an apprentice painter and decorator at Rycrofts, Sedbergh. The lifelong Leeds FC fan worked for Woodbridge and Mounsey in Kendal before going self-employed in 1972.

Mrs Major, 78, worked at Sedbergh School's boarding houses, including cook at Evans House. She also worked in a bakery and later at the Gazette's shop.

The couple, who live at Fell Close, have played an active part in their community. In the 1970s Mr Major was on the local Royal British Legion committee. Every autumn Mrs Major takes a tray of poppies to sell to neighbours at Fell Close.

From 1976 to 1995 she ran the town's Girl Guides unit, taking girls away on camp. In the late 60s and early 70s she was deputy warden at Gladstone House sheltered housing, and she still volunteers by helping residents with shopping and daily tasks such as dog walking.

The couple enjoy attending the weekly singing group at Gladstone House for people with dementia and their carers, giving Mrs Major a chance to catch up with other carers.

They share a love of bird watching, and Mrs Major also enjoys crafting, gardening and jigsaws.