THE COUPLE who previously ran the former butchers shop in Liss celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary by tucking into dinner with friends, family and old customers.

Meat was definitely on the Liss Luncheon Club menu when Geoffrey and Kathleen Read celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary last Thursday.

It was the second event of a memorable week as Mr Read celebrated his 97th birthday on the fourth, while around 40 family members joined the couple for a further anniversary celebration at Alton House Hotel on Sunday.

The couple are well-known in the village as they were the friendly faces behind the GW Read counter in Station Road until 1998.

Mr Read was born in Eastleigh and worked as a trainee butcher after leaving school at the age of 14. He was then conscripted into the Army and served in the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) 545 Tank Transporter Corps until being demobbed in 1945.

Geoffrey met Kathleen in 1947 not long after she moved from her hometown of Brighton to Eastleigh when her father took a new job as a milkman. The pair realised they shared an interest in ballroom dancing and motorcycling and would travel miles to take part in competitions.

The pair married on March 7, 1949 in Eastleigh Parish Church and began their married life in two rented rooms in the town.

They bought in house in Egbert Road, Winchester, after Mr Read successfully applied for the post of butchery manager in the city’s Dewhurst branch.

The pair bought Wakefords in Headley in 1955 and stayed there for six years before their growing family prompted a move to Liss, with the couple purchasing the village butcher shop from Mark Mitchell.

The married couple lived for several years at Thorn Cottage, Rake Road, and bought a second business, Fulongers at Liphook, before selling up after several years and moving to Blacknest.

But they kept their business in Liss with customers regularly travelling for miles to purchase their excellent meat, homemade sausages and pies, which were freshly cooked by Mrs Read every day.

The couple moved back to Liss in 2007 to be closer to family and friends and many of their old customers. Mrs Read will be 90 in July while the couple have five daughters, one son, 11 grandchildren and ten great grandchildren.