60 years of marriage for Wem couple who cycled 200,000 miles around the world
A couple from Wem are celebrating a long marriage that has seen them cycle over 200,000 miles around the world.
It's been 60 years since John and Jennifer Leese, now both 83, tied the knot at St Mary's Church in Market Drayton.
After a long marriage filled with family, farming and cycling around the globe, the two enjoyed a more subdued celebratory meal surrounded by friends to reflect upon their six decades together.
The two, living in Market Drayton at the time, met in 1958 at the Bridges Youth Hostel, near the Long Mynd, where they were cycling with friends.
After a courtship that covered hundreds of miles - walking and cyclin - the couple were married in a small ceremony on September 1, 1962.
They soon settled down on a dairy smallholding near Wem in 1965, where they raised three children. After selling up in 1992, the couple got back on their bikes for an early retirement of globe-trotting.
The couple estimate that they have cycled over 200,000 miles together, across New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Norway.
The secret to a happy marriage? "You have to work together," John explained.
"I wouldn't say we haven't had arguments," Jenny added, "But you make up, you have to. You get on with it, together."
