A RETIRED miner will celebrate 50 years of happy marriage to his gem of a wife tomorrow (May 25).

Jack and Anne Wilson grew up streets apart in Stanley Crook but it was at a dance at the Elite Hall in Crook where sparks first flew.

Mrs Wilson said: “I liked to dance but Jack didn’t. I think he only came along so he could walk me home.”

The pair, who now live in Willington, married on May 25, 1963, when he was 27 and she 26, at St Thomas’ Church in Stanley Crook before enjoying a night at the County Hotel in Durham and a honeymoon in Great Yarmouth.

Mrs Wilson worked at Marks and Spencer’s in Durham before the arrival of their son John, now 45.

She then worked in several shops and was a cleaner, assistant and dinner lady at Willington Church of England Primary School.

They will celebrate their golden anniversary with a party with friends and family including daughter-in-law Alison and grandchildren Emily, 16, and Lauren, 13, who are travelling up from Southampton.

They are asking for money to be donated to the Chyrelle Addams Cancer Appeal in lieu of presents as Mr Wilson fought off the disease several years ago.

Mrs Wilson said: “It has been a very good marriage. We have never been jealous and always supported each other in everything we did.”

Mr Wilson, who worked as an electrician down the mines, said: “It’s all about respecting each other, and give and take – I give, she takes.”