A SURPRISE presentation of a magnificent bouquet of flowers from the chairman of Calstock Parish Council Dick Hoile was one of the highlights of the diamond wedding anniversary celebrations for Ken and Hazel Allen, of Albaston.

The couple were both brought up in Plymouth where Ken entered the dockyard as an apprentice electrical fitter in 1943. They met at a dance in Kingsand in August 1948 and married on December 30, 1950.

Their next ten years were spent in London as Mr Allen had joined the post office engineering department, but all changed when he returned to the Admiralty to join the newly formed Navy Works Department and was posted to Malta for three years.

Postings to Portsmouth, London, Croydon and finally Birmingham followed until they retired back to the West Country in 1988, settling in Albaston.

Mr Allen was awarded the CBE in the 1988 New Years Honours List and since that time the couple have played an active role in the local community and in several local charities.

These have included the Albaston Fete, HeartSWell SW, Woodside Animal Welfare Trust and Gables Farm Dog and Cats Home. Mr Allen has also served as a governor at Delaware Primary School for ten years.

The couple were left speechless when chairman of Calstock parish council Dick Hoile turned up at the anniversary celebrations with a bouquet for them and reinforced their long held view that they made the right choice in retiring back to the West Country.