KEN and Marion Alderson started their golden wedding celebrations with a dance to a special song - just as they have done for years.

The couple danced to Foster and Allen track It’s Our Anniversary in the front room of their house in Emerald Walk, Chilton, which has become an anniversary tradition and today (Friday, April 3) marked 50 years of marriage.

The couple met at Eldon Lane Club, near Bishop Auckland, where Mrs Alderson, nee Race, was at her sister Barbara’s wedding party as a bridesmaid.

They shared their first dance that night, October 1, 1960, and have been the perfect partners for one another on and off the dance floor ever since.

They married at Woodhouse Close Methodist Church, in Bishop Auckland, on April 3, 1965, and moved to Chilton.

Mrs Alderson worked as a machinist at Toothill furniture factory in Darlington until they started a family and Mr Alderson was a bricklayer.

They have daughter Karen, who with husband Jason Ebdon runs a taxi firm, and son Gareth, who like his wife Fiona is a paramedic, seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Mrs Alderson, 73, said: “Family is the be-all and end-all for us, every child and grandchild has been welcomed and loved and still is. No matter how old they get they are still my bairns.

“We’ve had more ups than downs, he's my rock.

“We always enjoyed local dances and coach trips, especially to Scotland.”

On reaching their golden wedding, Mr Alderson, 78, added: “It’s grand.”