WHEN Christine and Vic Roots went to the King Alfred’s Head pub for lunch on Saturday ((4/4)), they did not expect to be welcomed by their entire extended family.

The couple’s six children and 13 grandchildren arranged the surprise party to celebrate the Roots’s golden wedding anniversary.

After meeting as colleagues at a printing factory in Middlesex when Mrs Roots, nee Parr, was just 15, the couple got married on April 3, 1965.

Mr Roots, 78, said: “I was in the printing department and she was in the finishing department.

“She arrived after me and I thought she was a very nice girl.

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“I plucked up the courage and we went out together.

“That was the beginning of it and it hasn’t ended yet.”

Mrs Roots, now 69, said: “I was a bench hand when I met Vic.

“He had a car for a while, we used to go for walks and go to the pictures as well. I was 19 when we got married.”

While Mrs Roots stopped working when she gave birth to their children – Angela, Michael, Steven, Christopher, Beverly and Kimberly – Mr Roots went on to become a well-known face in Wantage.

The retired milkman and postman said: “We’re from London originally but we moved to Wantage more than 40 years ago.

“We moved because of schools. Our children were having to travel quite a long way to get to school and we wanted somewhere closer.

“We never regretted it, it’s a lovely town.”

He added: “We’ve had our normal ups and downs – about money and things – but nothing terrible. I’ve never left her.

“We’ve been extremely happy, we very rarely argue.”

As well as seeing their children and grandchildren, the surprise party saw Mr and Mrs Roots reunited with old friends and colleagues.

Mr Roots said: “It was a total surprise, we did not know what was going on at all until we got there.

“The children all managed to keep it under wraps.

“There were lots of nephews and nieces, it was lovely to see them all.”

The couple unofficially renewed their wedding vows in front of the crowd.

Mr Roots said: “It was just lovely. Love, laughter and mutual respect, that’s all you need.”