Ref. 71706-01JOHN and Muriel Pritchard are still going strong after 68 years of marriage.

The couple, both 88, met when they were just 16 and married four years later in 1936 at the age of 20.

When they met in a village near Oxford, John played football for Oxford United and was also a keen runner.

He later became a blacksmith, while Muriel worked in the printing industry.

The couple moved to Rodbourne in their 20s before returning to Oxford and then back to Swindon again.

"I spent a lot of my school days in Swindon and we are lucky to be living here," said John.

"Today I feel better than I have done for years."

Muriel said the couple had had their ups and downs but she was grateful for her long marriage to John.

"I'm lucky to be alive and I'm lucky to have my husband," she said.

"I'm happy as long as we have one another."

On Tuesday the couple celebrated 72 years of love and 68 years of marriage.

Moreen Trimby, care worker at Fessey House in Brookdene, Haydon Wick, where the couple now live together, said: "It's a marvellous achievement," she said.

"They're such a lovely couple and they're very devoted to one another."

And in 1932...

WHEN the Pritchard's first met in 1932, the world was a lot like this:

In 1932 Adolf Hitler, an Austrian by birth, secured German citizenship, paving the way for the Nazis to take control of Germany in elections the following year.

Japan was invading Chinese territory.

In America, President Herbert Hoover was facing the Great Depression - millions of Americans had been plunged into poverty as banks and mortgage firms closed.

The effects of the Depression were also felt in Britain, with millions living in poverty.

The Mummy starring Boris Karloff was a hit at the cinema, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley was a bestselling book, the Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles and the BBC made its first television broadcast.