Diamond day for north Norfolk husband and wife who are both twins

Audrey and Roy Haynes who are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary on March 17th. Pictured are Roy and Audrey on their wedding day. Picture: SUBMITTED (Image: Archant Norfolk 2016)

Born and raised in South Yorkshire, Roy and Audrey Haynes settled in north Norfolk nearly 50 years ago.

Retired steel and chemical engineer Mr Haynes, 85, was twice mayor of North Walsham, and both he and his wife were actively involved in the local community for many years.

While working for his last employer, British Gas, Mr Haynes was among those developing the Bacton Gas site and is on film turning the wheel in 1968 which opened the flow of gas from the North Sea Leman field into the UK for the first time.

After retirement in 1991 Mr Haynes founded North Walsham's Bluebell Pond Society, to save the local beauty feature which was in danger of being filled in and built over.

And he still organises twice-yearly sessions of volunteers to clear it out.

Until very recently Mrs Haynes, 82 would also help with the project but, in 2012 she was diagnosed with dementia and is now in Glendon House care home, Overstrand, where her husband visits her every day.

The couple met while both were employed at a steel works in Sheffield where Mr Haynes' stepfather was manager.

Mr Haynes was born a twin and his twin Iris is still alive. Mrs Haynes, one of 14 children, was an identical twin and her twin Pat also survives.

Mr Haynes' real father, a coal miner, had been killed at the beginning of the Second World in a pit accident at Grimethorpe Colliery.

Roy qualified as an engineer at Sheffield University and then, from 1952-1954, did his National Service in the army, serving in Germany, Malta, Sudan and Egypt. He was one of the first National Service men to become a Warrant Officer.

The couple married in Sheffield in 1956 and had three children: Beverly, Allan and Gordon.

The family moved to Mundesley in 1968 where Mrs Haynes founded the Mundesley Singers and helped with school dinners.

They later settled in North Walsham.

Both were heavily involved in North Walsham's annual Festival of Fun which raised thousands of pounds over the years for the Bluebell Pond Society and local schools.

The pair are lifelong socialists and in 1995 and 2003 Mr Haynes was Labour deputy leader of North Norfolk District Council.

He is also a former executive member of North Walsham Citizens Advice Bureau, and ex-membership secretary of the North Walsham and Dilham Canal Trust.

They plan a party for family and friends at Glendon House to mark their big day.

Mr Haynes praised his wife who had brought up their children alone at times when his work meant he was based elsewhere.

And he joked: 'We've had rows of course, but we've always got back together again - it's because Audrey thinks I'm a genius!'