Couple marks 60 years wed

DIAMONDS: Elsie and Barry Leslie celebrated their special anniversary in Whanganui on Saturday.PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY

Guests came from around New Zealand to celebrate the diamond wedding anniversary of Elsie and Barry Leslie on Saturday.

The couple's eldest granddaughter, Aimee Loveridge, said there were 110 family and friends gathered for drinks and a buffet lunch to celebrate the 60th anniversary at the Kingsgate Hotel.

"It was fantastic," said Mrs Loveridge. "Granddad has Scottish heritage so he was piped in to the hotel and we had a piano accordion player because Granddad's father played one."

The Leslies are both from Whanganui and have spent their lives here apart from some years living in Paraparaumu.

Mr Leslie, who is 83, worked for B Bullock & Co most of his working life and his granddaughter says he was a keen bushman and axeman while Mrs Leslie 82, worked at the Avro Motel in Gonville before she retired.

Mrs Loveridge said the couple have many grandchildren and great-grandchildren and her own daughter Pippa, who is 14 months, is the youngest.

Asked about Mr Leslie's distinctive, carved walking stick, his granddaughter says she believes it once belonged to her great-grandfather and is a bit of a family treasure.