GREAT-GRANDFATHER George Pace has recalled how he would regularly walk several miles to make sure his sweetheart got home safely after a weekly dance.

Mr Pace, 83, of Wheatley Hill, east Durham, who celebrated his diamond wedding anniversary with Elizabeth, 80, on Thursday (February 5) said: “It was well worth every step of the way. She has been a good wife to me all these years.”

Mrs Pace, 80, said: “I was 17-years-old when I first met George at the movies. It was love at first sight. He was very kind and, of course, good looking.

“George invited me to dance and we would regularly attend the Embassy in Wheatley Hill.

“I lived in Trimdon Station at the time and would get the bus to the dance. George would then walk me several miles to my front door and then walk all the way back home to Wheatley Hill again.”

She added: “We had a lovely time. Our families were friends and we all used to go on holiday together to Blackpool. That is where George proposed to me.”

Asked what her secret to a long and happy marriage was, Mrs Pace said: “I have kept him in check. We have been very happy."

Mr Pace worked at as a motor mechanic at the Co-operative garage in Wheatley Hill and later at the Wheatley Hill, Thornley and Horden pits.

The couple have two sons George, 57, and Trevor, 54, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.