A WELLAND couple reach a rare milestone next week when they celebrate 70 years of marriage.

Leslie Robert Armstrong, known as Bob, and his wife Evelyn Mary, known simply as Mary, met at a dance in 1920s London, where he was a dental officer in the Royal Navy.

Bob, now a sprightly 97, was born in Borehamwood and went to school in Middlesex, before training to become a dentist and joining the Navy. Mary grew up in Ipswich and worked in her father's music shop.

After becoming engaged, the couple were forced to wait for two and a half years before they could marry, after Bob was posted to China. However, they finally tied the knot on November 5, 1932, and moved to Portsmouth.

When the Second World War broke out, the pair were sent to a holiday camp commandeered by the Navy on the Isle of Wight, before Bob was assigned to HMS Maine, a hospital ship in the Eastern Mediterranean, close to the Egyptian port of Alexandria.

"Rommel was doing rather well at that time so we had a rather thin time," recalled Bob.

Upon his return to Britain, he was stationed at HMS Duke in Malvern, which was to evolve over the years into what is now QinetiQ. The couple set up home in Merick Road, and their daughter Bridget went to school at Clarendon.

In 1947, he set up a dental practice in Great Malvern and during the 1950s established a practice on Richmond Road that still exists today.

After retiring in the 1960s, the couple now live in Hook Bank next door to their daughter. They have seen the family grow to include three grand children and six great grand children.

On Sunday (November 3) they will celebrate the occasion with their family and mark the anniversary itself on Tuesday, November 5, with a meal out.

In an age of high divorce rates, Bob admitted they had been lucky to last together for so long.

"Most of the time we agree the best thing to do in the circumstances," he said.

"I think we've just gotten on, we haven't had any big troubles at all," added Mary.