DENNIS and Irene Stephenson of Stoke Climsland (pictured above) celebrated their Golden Wedding with family and friends at Polhilsa Farm last Saturday.

The couple met on the Isle of Sheppey when Dennis was an apprentice in Sheerness Dockyard and later married at Minster Abbey.

They had three children and moved around the country with work before settling in Stoke Climsland 24 years ago.

Dennis was works manager at James Walker Metaflex in Tavistock and Irene, who previously worked as a hairdresser, spent 22 years at Stoke Climsland Primary School as a teaching assistant.

The couple have two grandchildren.

Three of Irene's bridesmaids were among the guests at the golden wedding celebration and there was an unexpected surprise when son Graham arrived, all the way from Singapore.

A family gift to the couple was a week's holiday in Jersey where they spent their honeymoon in 1959.