GRAHAM and Rachel Rayner celebrated 60 happy years of marriage with parties for family and friends.

Mr Rayner and his wife Rachel, nee Cornwall, tied the knot on January 26, 1957, at Wesley Methodist Church in Frome, Somerset.

And the last 60 years for the motorcycle fans has been a roaring success.

The Rayners celebrating the landmark anniversary with a party at The Bear at Home pub in North Moreton, on Thursday.

Then on Sunday their six children arrived at their home in Wallingford with 17 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren in tow.

The former asphalt technologist and his fiancee grew up in homes in Frome which were 400 yards apart and got together while working as laboratory assistants nearby.

During their early years together they spent a lot of time motorcycling around the countryside and were greatly involved in the Methodist church.

Mr Rayner completed his National Service in Germany from 1952 to 1954 in the Royal Engineers before returning home to marry Rachel.

The couple moved to Oxfordshire in 1959 when the Western Bypass was being built and for the next 30 years Mr Rayner worked for Amey Asphalt.

In 1961 the Rayners moved to Wallingford where they have remained ever since.

Mr Rayner said: "It's difficult to say what's the secret of a successful marriage - loyalty to one another is very important.

"We are just like everyone else - we all have our little problems - but I can't remember having tears or an argument.

"When we were younger we did a lot of motorcycling - we were not pub people and were very much involved with the Methodist church."

Mr Rayner added that as members of Wallingford Baptist Church the couple have taken part in mission trips to America, and were part of street evangelism teams at the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996.

They also visited Romania to link up with a church helping orphans.

Mrs Rayner said: "The parties were lovely - I really enjoyed seeing everyone - including our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren."

The couple's children are Bruce, 57, Giles, 56, Sarah, 54, Tobin, 52, Edgar, 50 and Felix, 46.

Mr Rayner, 86, said: "We has a big private party at The Bear and then the family gathered at our home on Sunday for a big party - there must have been about 40 of us.

Our children were all here celebrating - Sarah flew in from New Zealand."

Mr Rayner said he and his wife were delighted the Queen sent a card to express her congratulations, and together with a card from Wesley Methodist Church.