WHEN Edna and Arthur Shuttleworth met at the age of five, little did they realise that they would end up celebrating half a century of marriage together, a mere stone's throw from their primary school.

The couple lived a few doors away from each other in Binchester, near Bishop Auckland. It was at the village school that they first met.

But romance did not blossom until Mr Shuttleworth returned from Second World War service with the Army Medical Corps.

He and his bride, who was 20, were married on March 29, 1952.

Mr Shuttleworth spent most of his working life employed as a coach builder and driver in Ferryhill.

Mrs Shuttleworth worked in several shops in Bishop Auckland.

On Friday the couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at the Clarence Court sheltered housing complex in Spennymoor, where they have lived for about a year.

The move to Clarence Court has also brought back memories for the couple, because it stands on the site of the former Clarence Ballroom, known locally as 'the rink', where the couple regularly went dancing together.

Mr and Mrs Shuttleworth asked for charity donations in lieu of anniversary gifts, and raised £335 for Leukaemia Research, Cancer Research, the Heart Foundation and the chosen charity of Sedgefield Mayor, Councillor Andrew Gray.