Frank and Rita Mortel's life has been 'beautiful and hard' but always together

"We met as babies in the cradle together," Mrs Mortel, 92, said.

"He lived next door. We went to school together. We went through the war together."

The couple, who now live in Metford, grew up in a small town in Holland where Mr Mortel's father was a shoemaker.

The couple followed into the business, moving across the globe to Wentworthville. It was here they made the first ugg boot.

"I made them, [Frank] put the soles on," Mrs Mortel said. "I said, 'they're very ugly'. That's where the name comes from."

With the boots, business boomed.

Their next store in Lochinvar was full of customers, seven days a week, but despite the long work days and raising three children, the couple always found time for each other.

They've been separated only twice in their life - the first time when Mr Mortel was unwell as a teenager.

"It was something that was contagious and Rita was standing at the front window crying that she couldn't come in," Mr Mortel, 89, said.

"When I was 14, I asked Rita to marry me," he said.

"I was [still] in shorts. She said 'when you wear long pants and you're a bit older, we might be able to talk about it'."

The Second World War broke out shortly after and the couple were separated.

"We were sent out of our home. Frank went one way and I went the other way," Mrs Mortel said.

She was too young to work, but her mother and sister brought her to hospital to care for soldiers. Here, Mrs Mortel fed men who had been wounded.

"It was very hard. I saw many things," she said.

"We lost families in the war. We couldn't bury them, so we laid them under the tables."

Despite their challenges, the Mortels say love keeps them happy.

"It has been beautiful and it has been hard," Mrs Mortel said.

"We are so proud [of our family]."

The Mortels have three children and many grand and great-grandchildren. They will celebrate their anniversary with a private function.

- Lucinda Garbutt-Young