Valentine's dinner surprise for longest married couple at Chesterfield care home

Jack and Pam Swain live at the Chatsworth Lodge care home in Chesterfield where staff organised a surprise dinner for them.

The couple tucked into lasagne, chips and salad, followed by chocolate brownie, strawberries and cream.

Jack, who presented his wife with a red rose, said: “I love my wife with all my heart every day, not only on Valentine’s day.

"The meal was beautiful, and we’re very grateful that they did this for us.”

The couple reminisced about their 63 years of marriage, delighting staff with their love story.

Michelle Rose, home manager at Chatsworth Lodge, commented: “What a wonderful day to spend with a wonderful couple, an inspiration to us all.”

Jack, 95, and Pam, 84, are the longest-married couple to have lived at the home where they have resided for nearly a year.

An avid singer, Jack is renowned for his Winston Churchill impersonation.

The couple, who are very competitive especially against each other, enjoy playing dominoes and bingo.

Asked about the key to their long and happy marriage, they said: “Togetherness and both doing what the other asks.”

During his working life, Jack was a groundskeeper for the Duke of Rutland in Melton Mowbray where he was in charge of raising pheasants and other game animals. Pam kept house as they had a property on the estate.