A COUPLE who came close to tragedy during their early years of their marriage celebrated their diamond wedding with a Christmas family reunion.

Soon after Bill and Gladys Taylor moved to Bishop Auckland in the early 1940s, Mr Taylor was struck down by a brain tumour which almost cost him his life.

As they look back on their years together, the couple are still grateful for the surgeons at Newcastle General Hospital who saved Mr Taylor, now 83.

It was love at first sight for the couple when they met at the Houghton-le-Spring branch of grocer W Duncan, one of the forerunners of the Safeway group.

Mr Taylor was transferred to Bishop Auckland as manager of the Newgate Street shop. He was hoping to head the town's first self-service store, on the site of the Kings' Theatre, when the tumour was diagnosed.

Mrs Taylor, now 82, also worked for the company. She said: "It altered our lives completely. Bill was in wheelchair for a while and couldn't work for five years and it was very difficult. But he gradually got better."

Mr Taylor returned to the grocery business and was well enough to volunteer as a special constable. He was a founder member of Bishop Auckland's table-tennis association. Mrs Taylor was an active member of Bishop Auckland Women's Institute.

The couple, who live in Lingford Court, Bishop Auckland, shared their anniversary last Friday with their daughter Valerie Askew, her husband Tony and their daughter Gillian, and the couple's son, Bill, a former reporter on The Northern Echo.

Bill left the paper 27 years ago to move to America with his wife, Lesley, entertaining North-East readers with his Stateside column. He is now the Toronto Star's feature writer, while his wife edits the newspaper's magazine