A KNUTSFORD couple who found love in a confectionary shop are still sweet on each other after 60 years of marriage.

Bob and Alma Mocock, from Oakleigh, were joined by family and friends in Stratford-upon-Avon earlier this month as they celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.

The couple met at the tender age of 16, when Bob visited the sweet shop that Alma worked in, and after a four-year courtship, the sweethearts tied the knot in Birmingham on July 31 1954.

Bob, 80, said: “It just feels like the other day we were married, it has passed so quickly. We are aiming for our 70th now, when we will both be 90.”

Bob and Alma, who have two children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, moved to Knutsford in 1970 for Bob’s work. The then 36-year-old was tasked with opening a Manchester office for Thompson & Bryan Ltd, the national company of insurance loss assessors for whom he worked, and the couple still live in the same house.

Both Bob and Alma have led interesting and varied careers. After her move to Knutsford, Alma worked as a part-time fashion model. Her moment of fame came in Japan when she was invited to model a bridal kimono on stage at a Japanese Culture Exhibition in Osaka in 1980.

Bob, who still works as an independent insurance consultant, spent much of the 70s in Northern Ireland carrying out bomb damage assessments. He narrowly missed injury in one explosion at an Etam’s shop, and managed to dodge bullets on another occasion, when his measuring rod was mistaken for a rifle.

“An RUC man came rushing in shouting, ‘Get away from the window, they think it’s a gun’,” recalled Bob.

The keen photographer also helped put Knutsford on the global business map by jointly forming the Knutsford Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1976. The chamber won a world award in 1979 as the most outstanding chamber formed within the previous three years.

Successful careers and a successful marriage under their belts, the Guardian asked the couple the secret of their marital bliss.

“Have a little fight now and again to show you both have character,” said Bob.