The secret of a 60-year marriage? Arguing!

A FORMER teenage bride beamed as she celebrated 60 years of marriage, laughing: “They said it would never last.”

Margaret Fitzpatrick was 18 when she tied the knot with 22-year-old husband Mick at St Stephen’s Church in Eastwood on August 11, 1962.

Six decades on, the couple were toasted by family and friends at a diamond wedding anniversary gathering at Moorgate Lodge Care Home.

Margaret, who has four sons with Mick, said the couple had met through a mutual friend, adding: “He was very mature but they said we were too young to get married.

After getting married, they lived in rooms in Eastwood, the area she was from, before moving to East Herringthorpe, from where Mick hailed.

Later, they lived in East Dene, Flanderwell, Broom Valley and finally Whiston.

Margaret said she had worked at Backer Electrical while Mick was a labourer before beginning a long spell with Robert Jenkins.

Asked why they had stuck together so long, Margaret joked: “Arguing! All those couples you see walking down the street arm in arm all end up divorced \_ we used to argue all the time and we’re still together.”

She added: “He looked after me and was a dad in a million to our boys.”