A FORMER miner and his wife are celebrating 50 years of marriage today.

Joe and Hilda Lennox, of Sherburn, near Durham, met in Haughton in 1952.

"He was performing in a concert at the school where I was teaching," said Hilda, 76.

"There was a party afterwards and we met there."

The couple spent most of their married life in Farnley, where Joe, 74, worked as a miner.

Hilda taught home economics at St Bede's in Peterlee.

They plan to celebrate their golden anniversary with a thanksgiving mass in St Joseph's Church, Durham.

This will be followed by a party with their six children and the rest of the family.