Diamond celebrations for Robert and Elizabeth Paterson of Shieldhill

Robert and Elizabeth Paterson will have all their loved ones around them for their diamond celebration.

But that’s not unusual as this close-knit family live within a few miles of each other in the Braes and regularly spend time together.

Elizabeth, now 80, said she had little time for hobbies in the last six decades as her priority was always her family.

The then Miss Larmour travelled over the Irish Sea to meet the man she would eventually marry when she came to Falkirk on holiday with a friend and the pair stayed with the friend’s aunt, Miss Nancy Ramsay in Shieldhill.

It was there she had a chance meeting with Robert when she met him in the village.

Elizabeth explained: “I came here in the July and Robert came to visit me in the September and came back for Christmas. We were engaged on Boxing Day.”

Their courting days may have been short but their engagement was long as Elizabeth’s father said she was too young to wed at 16 and would have to wait until she was 21.

However, Robert was a time-served joiner and would regularly travel across to the Larmour family home in Whiteabbey, outside Belfast, where his future father-in-law was building an extension and he would help. His contribution did not go unnoticed and Elizabeth’s father relented and allowed them to be married six months before her 21st.

The couple were wed in Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church with a reception in the Glenavona Hotel.

The newlyweds had a short honeymoon in Dublin before returning to Northern Ireland where her family accompanied them to the ferry to wave them off to their new live together.

Their first home was a cottage in Shieldhill’s Main Street, before moving to Anderson Crescent and finally to Pirleyhill Drive where they remain today.

Robert, now 83, continued to work as a joiner before becoming a tanker driver for P&O.

In Northern Ireland, Elizabeth had worked as a threader in a business that made Irish linen tablecloths.

She was kept busy when children Ian and Lynn came along, and also nursed her in-laws through their periods of ill health. When Robert’s sister died in her mid-30s, she helped look after her daughter Dawn, and said she always considers her as one of her own.

This kind soul also looked out for neighbours and used to carry coal upstairs for an old lady living near by. When she took ill, she asked if Elizabeth would become her carer and that led to her becoming a home help with Falkirk Council, a role she carried out for a number of years, looking after many elderly people in the village.

Elizabeth also loves spending time with her grandchildren – Gemma, Darren and Jordan.

The couple also enjoyed travelling back to Northern Ireland, as well as throughout Europe and even Australia.

Sadly, Robert has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s meaning their travelling days are now limited.

However, earlier this year Elizabeth surprised her family by announcing that for her 80th birthday she wanted to complete the Go Ape zip slide at Aberfoyle.

She was sponsored and also asked for no gifts at her birthday party, instead donations for the Alzheimer Scotland charity.

The dare-devil gran was accompanied by daughter Lynn, three grandchildren and Jordan’s girlfriend Carla Montgomery to zip through the trees at the Trossachs National Park.

A few weeks later, the family went along to The Maples, the Alzheimer Scotland facility in Johnston Avenue, Stenhousemuir, where Elizabeth handed over a cheque for an amazing £3510.

While their family don’t have quite as adventurous celebrations planned for the 60th anniversary, they will join Robert and Elizabeth at home on their big day, followed by a get-together later this month in Linlithgow with family and friends.

Asked the inevitable question on what is the secret of longevity in their marriage and Elizabeth didn’t hesitate to reply: “Robert’s been a good, good man looking after me.”