A FORMER miner and his Aycliffe Angel are celebrating 70 years of marriage today (Tuesday, December 23).

Arthur and Ethel Shepherd, from Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, were just 21-years-old when they tied the knot at St Andrew’s Church in nearby South Church on December 23, 1944.

Wartime spirit was very much alive, with wedding flowers supplied by the allotments and neighbours chipping in with eggs and currants for the cake.

Mr Shepherd worked as a miner at Auckland Park Colliery and later Dean and Chapter and Leasingthorne Collieries in Ferryhill.

In 1965, he joined Cummings in Darlington, before becoming a caretaker at Coundon Junior School in 1980.

Mrs Shepherd worked in a wallpaper shop but joined a munitions factory in Newton Aycliffe during the war, becoming one of the celebrated Aycliffe Angels.

Outside of work, the couple, who have two sons, David and Stephen, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren, volunteered at their local youth club and enjoyed walking.

Now aged 91 they remain very much in love and will celebrate their platinum anniversary with friends and family.

Mrs Shepherd said: “We have always been content and have a close and happy family. You have to respect one another.”