A Dousland couple who celebrated 70 years of marriage last week have been recalling how they first met as teenagers at school dances in Plymouth.

Joan and Dennis Voisin grew up in Plymouth during the Blitz and met aged 15 and 17, when girls from Plymouth High School and boys from Plymouth College came together for Friday dance lessons.

“It was the fifties, all be-bopping and jiving and big-band music. We had a whale of a time back then,” said Joan. “Dennis went away for two years in the army – National Service – but when he came back, I was 18 and he was 20, and we got together again.”

They married on October 29, 1955, at St Budeaux Parish Church, where Sir Francis Drake wed his first wife. They have three sons (one of whom sadly passed away last year) and five grandchildren.

Dennis worked as a butcher, with Joan helping while their children were small, before training as a nurse in 1974 and working in A&E until the 1990s.

Golf has been central to their lives. Members of Yelverton Golf Club for decades, Joan was lady captain and Dennis captain of the veterans. Their trophies fill a cabinet at home.

Joan added: “Golf has probably been the biggest part of our life together. Most of our friends came from Yelverton Golf Club. We’ve played matches all over Devon and Cornwall. I played for 40 years and Dennis for 50. He only gave up last year when he was 90, after still playing three full rounds a week.”

They’ve travelled widely, visiting Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tunisia, the Dominican Republic, the United States and much of Europe.

Dog lovers, they’ve owned several rescues. “We’ve always loved dogs. We used to go rambling over the moors with them,” they said.

Looking back, they agreed that “give and take” is key to a happy marriage. “You’ve got to give each other space,” they added. “We’ve done things differently, but we’ve done them together – that’s what matters. You take on a marriage, you take on your share of responsibility.”