Nonetheless, Pat Becker had never heard of Angus Scott when her father took ownership of the hotel.

“The only Angus I heard of was an Aberdeen Bull,” she said.

They were quickly introduced though, given the young farmer and World War II veteran regularly headed to the popular watering hole.

Cut to today, and they’ve been married nearly 70 years. Angus and Pat, aged 96 and 88 respectively, will mark their Platinum anniversary with their family next Monday, December 17.

It’s an impressive partnership that has seen them raise three children, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Angus said their relationship grew through playing sport together, and through the mail run he had from Goroke to Frances just over the South Australian border.

“It used to run every day of the week and it was a fairly big run, with parts as well as the mail,” he said.

“Pat drove the mail run while I used to go shearing. We became very good friends and sort of worked together pretty well and it looked like it would turn all right.”

Pat said they then decided to get married, and the date of their wedding was also tied to the mail run.

“We couldn’t get anyone to do it in our place, and our friend who was a schoolteacher at Minimay said if we'd like to wait until school term was over, he would do the run for us,” she said. 

They were married in Horsham’s Presbyterian Church – now the Uniting Church – and moved to Horsham a few years later, after Pat’s father had sold the Gymbowen hotel.

Since then, the Scotts have helped in the community as much as their four-generation family. 

Angus worked in road construction and Horsham transport before retiring at 60, while Pat worked part time at Coles and served on the RSL’s Ladies committee.

They now both live at Ingenia Gardens retirement village.

So what’s the secret to a marriage as long as theirs?

“We work together, that’s what you’ve got to do,” Angus said.

“We don't do things unless we both agree - like shifting to here after we lived in a unit in John Street for 27 years. If you're going to work against one another, you'll get nowhere.”