A COUPLE who met at a local village dance are set to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary on Boxing Day.

Leslie and Violet first met at the village hall hop in Kempsey and married two years later in 1951.

The pair, who live in Langdale Drive, Worcester, now have three sons, two daughters, five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Mr Underhill, 86, said: "Violet wouldn't get married until she was 21. So when she became 21 I said we are not getting married until I'm 21.

"She had to wait another 12 months. I had to get my own back. As a butcher Boxing Day was the only day I could get off.

"Two months before the wedding date her dad died but both families wouldn't let us cancel the wedding.

"It was a lovely day and marriage. We have had a good life and never had an argument or fall out."

Throughout their life together the couple went on day trips around the country and brought back a thimble from each destination.

They have amassed a huge collection of the little caps in their living room as evidence of the coach journeys.

Mrs Underhill, 87, from Kempsey, fondly remembers dancing the quickstep and waltz at the weekly hop.

Her husband, who grew up in Bath Road, Worcester, says he used to cycle long distances with his friends to attend the dances.

Mrs Underhill worked for Kays Catalogues and as a school dinner lady, while Mr Underhill worked as a butcher in Worcester, at Bywaters, in The Shambles, and also in the Market Hall.