Stroll on the hills led to lifetime of happiness for Diamond Johnstone duo

The sweethearts, who were married on January 30, 1960, shared a romantic dinner together – six decades to the day since they tied the knot in front of family and friends.

They also received the best wishes of staff at Lancefield Care Home, in Rankine Street, Johnstone, where 81-year-old Evelyn has been living for the past year.

Recalling the moment when they first met, John, also 81, told The Gazette that it wasn’t exactly an ‘eyes across a crowded room’ moment.

“I was skint,” he admitted. “So instead of going to the dancing, one night I went for a walk up on the Gleniffer Braes and there was this beautiful girl walking there with her pal.

“The rest, as they say, is history.”

A snap from John and Evelyn’s wedding day back in 1960

John and Evelyn, who were married in Paisley Abbey, went on to have two daughters – Ann, who now lives in London with her husband, jazz trumpeter Al Fairweather, and their daughter Emma, and Lyn, who is based in Australia.

The couple have lived in Renfrewshire for all of their married life, first in the Glenburn area of Paisley and later in Foxbar.

Evelyn moved to Lancefield Care Home after being diagnosed with vascular dementia following a fall in which she broke her arm.

Asked to reveal the secret to a long and happy marriage, John said: “It’s like anything in life – you only get out of it what you put in.

“If you want to be happy, you’ve got to work together and learn to come and go a bit – and that’s what we’ve done all this time.”

Read all the latest from Renfrewshire and beyond