MORE than 50 years after he was bowled over on his first meeting with his future bride, Jim Dixon could not be happier with Edna, his "champion" wife.

Mr Dixon was knocked to the ground in his 1950 encounter with his future wife in an Aycliffe factory canteen.

Mrs Dixon floored him with her outstretched arm as she gave directions to a friend.

Mr Dixon, 73, said: "She gave me a good wallop and I fell backwards off my chair. It nearly knocked me out. But we started talking and found we had a lot in common and that was that. She obviously had a good left hook, but it didn't put me off. She has been just champion."

The couple married two years later in St John's Church, Kirk Merrington, the village where they made their home. Mr Dixon ran fish and chip shops until he retired 15 years ago. He is a member of the Fuschia Society of Durham and Northumberland.

Their sons, Alan and Brian, live in Spennymoor.