My 40th wedding anniversary

Today is my 40th wedding anniversary, I guess this is my cue to say something cheesy and hand my wife a ruby brooch.

I'm not going to do either, instead I'm going to provide 40 little surprises during the next few months. Surprise no 1 is a packet of Thornton's treacle toffee - I hope she likes it!

At this stage, I have no idea what surprise no 2 will be, but I'll think of something.

I hope she hasn't bought me ruby cuff-links (I'm pretty sure she hasn't).

The last 40 years have flown by, it doesn't quite seem like yesterday that I was being introduced to her family in the Hanging Gate at Weaverham, but I could believe it was only a week or so ago.

We were married at 21, bought our own house at 22 (for £8,500) and had our first child (Tom) when I was 28 and Margaret was 27.

What have we done in 40 years? In some ways it seems very little, in other ways such a lot. The most significant thing we've done is what all organisms are programmed to do, we've reproduced ourselves.

It has been hard work and it hasn't all been plain sailing. A lot of the lovely people who were around at our wedding are no longer with us and that's the cause of a little sadness, but that's life; and there are lots of lovely people who are around now who weren't there at our wedding, principally our three sons and their wives, who form such a large part of our lives.

Much has changed, but the one constant has been Margaret. She has never disappointed me, never failed me ... she bore my children, has been my companion and my critic (but not often) ... she has also done a little more ironing than me ... in short she has been my friend and partner in life for 40 years and that's quite a thing.

Would she do it all again? I think she would and I certainly would.

40 years later ...

Footnote: surprise No 2 was a couple of climbing roses (Aloha) for the latticework pillars in our garden. They are a vigorous variety with pink, strongly scented flowers, turning to orange/yellow as they fade.