On June 14 this year, they celebrated a half-century of marriage.

From building a life together and raising a family on the farm, to now retired, Mr and Mrs Browne still share their love of music which brought them together so many years ago.

Mr Browne was born in Landsborough and grew up on the family farm, which in 2019 was handed onto the sixth generation of the Browne family with roots going back to the 1880s.

A shearer, Mr Browne travelled throughout western Victoria taking on jobs in shearing sheds from the age of 16.

Mrs Browne, nee Anderson, hails from Willaura and began her working career as a telephonist in the area.

After taking up studies in Hamilton to further her career into a management position, Mrs Browne moved into the role as officer in charge in Ararat.

The couple married at Willaura, on what was described as a "beautiful Winter's day".

"There was a bit of debate about the date of the long weekend that year and I probably picked the date to suit that weekend," Mrs Browne said.

"I also remember going into Melbourne and seeing a wedding at St Andrews Church and the bridesmaids wore beautiful royal blue coats on over their dresses.

"I just thought it was lovely and my bridesmaids agreed that's what they would wear."

The couple started their married life in Willaura while Mr Browne was shearing in the area.

"We wanted to buy a house in Landsborough and started to buy a bit of land in the area," Mr Browne said.

"It was good to live in the township when our boys were going to school and then the grandkids.

"We are still in the original house we bought when we came back to Landsborough all those years ago."

The Brownes have two sons, Craig and Peter and also four grandchildren.

"Peter is a farmer and Craig is a secondary school teacher," Mrs Browne said.

"We're very proud of both of our children and their achievements in life."

Mr and Mrs Browne worked on the farm together, after purchasing more land which needed developing.

"I've always been interested in land and enjoyed doing it," Mrs Browne said.

"We had to do a lot of soil conservation work over the years.

"We've had a busy life - we haven't sat still."

The Brownes have travelled in the past, their biggest trip was travelling up the centre and to the west coast of Australia.

"We still have our sights set on doing the east coast so we can say we have been right around," Mr Browne said.

"That's still in the pipeline, we're not sure just yet when we would do it."

Mrs Browne said her grandson often says to her "when are you stopping home Nan".

"We love our music and spend weekends away at music festivals, particularly country and western," she said.

"We've decided Barham is the best festival and make a point of going there every year."

Truly entrenched within their community, Mr Browne was the CFA captain for 10 years while Mrs Browne performed the role of communications officer.

"We didn't like going away in Summer much. One reason was the farm and the other because of our roles within the community," Mrs Browne said.

"We've been involved with so many organisations within the community - it's really kept us busy of the years.

"People say small country towns are quiet - but we have lead a busy life and a beautiful life in our small town."

Mr Browne said transport has changed the town so much and access to the bigger centres is easier.

"We're not in a little isolated town anymore," he said.

"We have good road access in and out in all directions."

Overcoming the challenges of living in a small town, Mrs Browne said obtaining produce and the availability to food hasn't been an issue.

"I was used to being self-sufficient from a young age," she said.

"My father always had a big garden and that's where I started at a very young age. I grew up knowing how important your soil is and how to treat your soil.

"I've grown most of my own vegetables, we had fruit trees and preserve all the fruit, at one stage we had a milking cow and had our own meat."

Retiring at the beginning of 2019, the Brownes are still active and find plenty of things to do to keep them entertained during the day.

"Peter calls in here most days and if he wants a hand doing something I go out and help him." Mr Browne said.

"It's not like we are in the armchair every day. We don't treat it much different to what we were doing but the responsibility isn't ours now.

"We like sitting by the fire and I still like going out and cutting my own wood and tinkering around in my shed."

The answer to the age old question, what is the secret to a long lasting marriage?

"Being busy is half the battle," Mr Browne chuckled.

"As far as we are concerned we've had a good life, a busy life. We've always had the same goals in terms of buying land and farming so we've always had something to work towards."

"It's all about give and take," Mrs Browne said.

"Everyone has a different personality but you must learn to give and take."

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