IT says a lot about a couple when they have to be "bullied" into celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary, but that's what happened with the

Morgans.

Friends and family members pushed the quiet pair, who have organised and hosted many charity events in the past, into holding an intimate party – and even letting the Queen's office know of the significant date to receive a letter from Her Majesty.

Meeting with semi-retired farmers Stan and Marion Morgan, they told the Beacon of their long and happy marriage together since tying the knot on 4th May 1955.

It was the traditional love at first sight when they saw and met each other at a dance, but both had to wait a few years until they finally got married and settled down together.

Marion, who trained as a nurse, said it wasn't until bumping into a friend of Stan's while travelling back from Newport, that she met him again – at another dance.

In fact, dancing is a real passion of the Morgans and they have held dances for many years, creating a real community within the Raglan area and raising many thousands of pounds for charities.

The couple – who have three children, eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren – have farmed in Monmouthshire all of their life and spent most of their time together working on Whitehouse Farm in Clytha.

Animals are a real passion of Marion's, who has kept and bred everything from New Zealand White rabbits, for which she became something of an expert, to horses, and the Morgans have had real success on turf.

Stan's Pride, one of their horses, won The Foodbrokers Ferrero Rocher Hurdle at Cheltenham in 1985 among other successes, and finished third in the Champion Hurdle.

The couple have described their marriage as "magic", also saying: "We've had our ups and downs but we've never stopped loving each other."