A COUPLE are celebrating a milestone wedding anniversary a year after beating a major health scare.

Angela Oliver, 71, from Witney, underwent a double mastecotomy almost a year ago after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

And she said the support of her wonderful husband, Gordon, 74, had helped her get through the past 12 months.

She said: “Gordon has been my safety net right through it – he has been wonderful.”

Mr Oliver said: “The last year has been really awful but Angela has been very strong and positive throughout.

“We have had our other mountains to climb, but none were as bad as the last 12 months.”

Doctors discovered Mrs Oliver had breast cancer after a routine scan. She is now on the mend and the couple celebrated their golden wedding on Saturday with friends and family at Home Farm in Finstock.

But they asked that, instead of presents, those attending gave money to the Jane Ashley Unit at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, which helped Mrs Oliver.

The couple first met at Witney-based firm Smiths Industries in the 1950s.

Mr Oliver worked as a welder and Mrs Oliver, nee Hornblower, worked in an office overlooking the workshop.

They began dating after Mr Oliver sent a message, via his boss, to ask her out.

She agreed and they said it was love at first sight.

On September 30, 1961, two days after Mrs Oliver’s 21st birthday, they married with a white wedding in Leafield.

The couple went on to buy a newspaper delivery firm in 1979.

They built Oliver’s Newsagents up until they were delivering to almost 1,000 customers across 30 villages in West Oxfordshire.

They would often work seven days a week, with Mrs Oliver sorting the papers and Mr Oliver, two staff members and a team of youngsters, delivering them.

They eventually sold the business in 1998.

Asked what the secret of their marriage had been, Mr Oliver jokingly said: “When Angela says anything I always agree.”

He added: “But, honestly, in 50 years we have never argued.

“I think you have to work together in a marriage.”

And asked what advice they would have for people starting relationships today, Mrs Oliver said: “They jump into bed too easily.

“They do not know each other.

“We used to have a date a couple of times a week and you longed for that time to come.”

The couple, who live in Woodford Way, Witney, said the highlight of their marriage had been their two children, Chris, 47, and Martin, 43, and their granddaughter, Jayme, 21.