AN exiled Blackburn couple who emigrated to Australia to escape the English weather celebrate their golden wedding anniversary today.

Frank, 77, and Marie Morris, 73, have lived Down Under since leaving Highfield Road in 1962 on their 11th wedding anniversary.

The couple had nowhere to live initially and stayed in a Sydney hostel for 15 months. They then went on the move again, 1,100 miles across Australia to Adelaide in a tiny 'Standard 8' car with their three children, Peter, Ann and Hilary in the back.

They have lived in the town's beachside suburb of Henley ever since. They admit to having missed their friends in Blackburn, but were glad to see the back of the English weather, especially Frank in his work as a carpenter.

He said: "Working outdoors in the building trade in the wet, windy and bitterly cold winters was no joke, and it was Marie who put the pressure on me to apply to migrate.

"She was fed up with the wet clothes around the fire most nights, and the fact that I would be crippled with rheumatism before I was 40 -- I didn't need much pushing.

"Life in Australia means lots of sunshine and warm sunny days, particularly in spring and autumn when the weather is ideal. The winters are very easy to take, no snow and very little frost." The couple met in 1947 at the New Empress Ballroom -- also known as Tony's -- in Town Hall Street, Blackburn.

They married four years later at the since demolished St Mary's Church, Islington.

Frank has always been a carpenter, while Marie was a comptometer operator in England, and then an office worker in Australia.

They have spent their retirement enjoying trips like their 16 week camping jaunt across Australia a couple of years ago.