Inverness diamond wedding anniversary couple say arguing has kept them together for 60 years!
As they celebrate 60 years of marriage, Inverness couple Julian and Kay Cox are unequivocal about what has kept them together.
“We argue a lot!” said Mr Cox (81).
Mrs Cox (83) agreed: “We both have our own interests and we keep ourselves busy. It is important to have your own lives.”
He has a talent for woodwork, she is keen sewer.
“I am lousy at making handbags and Kay is lousy at making furniture!,” Mr Cox said.
“If you both have the same interests and do everything together, it could be a claustrophobic.”
The couple, who live in Ness Castle, were married at Hilton Church on December 19 1964.
In her early childhood, Inverness-born Mrs Cox lived in the building later to become Eastgate Hostel while Mr Cox was originally from Coventry.
They met at a dance in Yeovil while both were serving in the Royal Navy - she was in the Women’s Royal Naval Services and he was an artificer who served on Ark Royal and even met Prince Philip on one occasion.
They were married while on two weeks leave.
Mrs Cox wore a white velvet dress made by her mother-in-law and following the ceremony, they had a reception for about 30 guests at the former Loch Ness Hotel near Tomnahurich swing bridge.
The couple recall there was mention of their wedding in the newspaper but on the sports pages - an announcement that Mrs Cox’s footballing brother, Bobby Glennie, would not be playing for Caledonian that day as he was going to his sister’s wedding!
After a brief honeymoon in Aberdeen, the couple returned to base where their accommodation was a residential caravan.
In the mid 1970s, the couple, who had two sons, Geoffrey and Richard, moved to South Africa where Mr Cox helped to launch TV as an electronics engineer.
He was also a university lecturer in electronics at Durban Westville University.
After 20 years, they returned to the UK and lived in Essex where Mr Cox was a lecturer in electronics at the University of East London. They moved to Inverness in 2021.
Son Geoffrey, who lives in Sweden with his wife, Monica, is an oboist with the Gothenburg Opera. He has two children from his first marriage and three from his second marriage.
Their son, Richard, an IT storage specialist, died in July 2014. His South African born wife, Lynne, and daughter, Kathryn, live in Inverness.
A keen woodworker, Mr Cox is a member of the Highland Woodturners Club and has even made two harps for granddaughters and a spinning wheel for his wife, an experienced quilt maker and sewer whose talents include making tweed handbags.
The couple will celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary with a family get together and meal.
