Ken and Jillian have danced their way to a diamond wedding anniversary

In those days the entertainment was strictly on the dance floor – not the TV – and it was at Kimbell’s Ballroom, Southsea, in 1955 the music shop assistant and dockyard apprentice first became partners.

The couple married on October 1, 1959, at Portsmouth Register Office, and today celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary.

Ken, 84, was a keen and talented footballer, playing for, among others, Portsmouth Civil Service in the Hampshire League. Even now he is a regular at Fratton Park, more than 70 years after watching his first game there. Jillian, who worked for Courtney and Walker in Arundel Street, Portsmouth, and later as a machinist and supervisor for Tambrands in Havant, still loves dancing – but these days it is the celebrity version on the TV screen.

The couple, who live at Anchorage Park, have a son, Neville, daughter, Lorraine, grandchildren Joanne and Sarah-Jayne and great-grandchildren Evie, Gracie, Isaac and Taliyah.