Les and Kath Crispin are celebrating their 70th Wedding Anniversary this week and have had their marriage blessed.

Kath and Les were married at Holy Trinity Church, Salcombe, on Saturday, October 18, 1947, after they met through farming. Les was 23, Kath was 27.

Les grew up in Batson and then worked at Tor Hill Farm in the village, before moving on to work at Lincombe Far and Collapit. Farming initially with horses and no electricity, later in life he was driving sophisticated combine harvesters.

Kath, a Cornish girl from Lostwithiel, came to work on Churchill Farm as a Land Army Girl, which is when she met Les. She worked for many years at Anne’s Pantry in Salcombe and then at Oke Brothers in Kingsbridge until she retired. ?Les was a member of the local Home Guard during the Second World War and was a member of Salcombe Rugby Club and took part in rowing races at Salcombe Regatta.

Together, Les and Kath lived in Batson for many years before moving to Collapit Farm. Eventually, when they retired, they moved to Loddiswell where Les still lives. They have four daughters, Daphne, Pauline, Pamela and Venessa.

They now have five grandchildren, Richard, Victoria, Simon, Phil and Jo, and seven great-grandchildren, Ed, Jamie, Matthew, Harry, Ruby, Ivy and Evelyn.

The couple celebrated their day at Kahala Court with their family, where Father Daniel French blessed their marriage. The family sang their wedding hymns, ‘O Perfect Love’ and ‘Father Hear The Prayer We Offer’, taking Les back to his days as a Salcombe choir boy.

Congratulations to Les and Kath.