The South Shields sweethearts still smiling after 60 years together

There wasn’t a dull moment as Joe and Jean Vaughan of Lorrain Road, Whiteleas raised a glass to their diamond wedding anniversary on Thursday, March 12.

The couple met in 1958 while they were both machine workers at the former Cigarette Components factory in Jarrow.

They were engaged a year later and tied the knot at St Hilda’s Church on Market Place one rainy day in 1960, when Jean was 19-years-old.

Sadly Jean’s mum passed away of a heart attack just a week before the wedding and having lost her father a year earlier, Joe became her rock.

“I don’t know what I would have done without him,” said the 79-year-old.

They moved into their home on Lorrain Road just eight weeks later in May 1960 and built a happy life together.

“We’ve been very fortunate, we’ve both worked all our lives and have been very happy here,” said Jean, who spent 14 years as a cleaner for Northumbria Police up until her retirement.

They went on to have two sons, Colin, 59, and Martin, 57, and later seven grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Joe, 85, an Army veteran, used to tour the clubs as a comedian.

He says it’s the laughter that has kept them together through the ups and downs of the last six decades.

“We both have a great sense of humour, we just bounce off each other,” he said.

“The wedding itself was like a variety show.”

On a holiday to Cyprus they were even asked to perform a stand-up act together after charming the hotel manager with their chemistry.

But it hasn’t all been plain sailing.

“It’s the hardship as much as anything that gets you through,” said Joe.

While Jean added: “We don’t get on all the time. We fight like nobody knows - if I say it’s black he’ll say it’s navy blue.”

The couple will mark the occasion with friends and family at the Catholic Club in Westoe Road on Friday, March 13 and no doubt they’ll have their best material ready.