AN Oswaldtwistle couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary 64 years after their eyes met in a dance hall.

Neil, 83, and Sheila Martin, 80, of Dunster Avenue, enjoyed a celebration at Monte Cristo Restaurant in Church with close family and friends – including two of their bridesmaids from the big day all those years ago.

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The couple – who have a son Tony – met in 1951 and married in Carr Road Baptist Church, Nelson, four years later.

Neil, who is originally from Southport and is a retired steel fabricator, still remembers the day they met.

He said: “It was at the Romany Ballroom in Nelson and Sheila was with another bloke at that time.

“She was wearing a pearl necklace and suddenly it broke and the pearls went all over the floor. This guy was on his knees picking them all up. That was the first time I saw her and I liked her immediately.”

The first time they went out together courting was to the Imperial Ballroom in Nelson, Sheila’s home town.

Sheila said: “That was the big ballroom in Nelson where all the big bands such as Joe Loss used to come. I was 16 at the time.”

Sheila, a former book-keeper at Edmundsons, Darwen Street, Blackburn, added: “He has just been such a good patient man. Very patient and so easy to live with. We never went to bed on an argument and that is important.”

Sheila worked until she was nearly 75 and that meant Neil had the house to himself when he first retired from his career as a steal fabricator.

Neil now has his computer and Sheila is always busy - ensuring ‘they never got under each other’s feet’.