A SHANKLIN couple who met as teenagers in the 1950s have celebrated 60 years of marriage.

Helen and Jim Ashpole, of Sandy Lane, celebrated with a family excursion and Champagne lunch at Spitbank Fort on the day of their diamond anniversary — Thursday, October 24.

They first met in 1955 when residing in the same block of flats in Highbury, north London.

Helen was 15 and still at school, and Jim was 16 and had started work.

Helen said: “We courted for three years and got married when we were both 19 at St Joan of Arc Church in Highbury.

“Jim spent three years in the army, and when he left we settled down in Hackney and went on to have three sons.

"When the boys were young we moved to Watford and stayed there until we moved to the Island in 1988.”

The couple ran a guest house in Ventnor for 12 years, with luminaries such as Michael Palin staying — while filming Palin’s Column, a programme based around the County Press.

Following their retirement from hospitality in 1999, Helen and Jim always made time for the important things in life, including Jim’s beloved pastimes of fishing and lawn bowls.

Remaining active, he has since added darts and petanque to his hobbies, representing the Royal British Legion in Ventnor.

Helen has been involved in charity work and has volunteered with the Mountbatten hospice shop in Shanklin, having assisted in various hospice shops over the past 16 years.

The couple, who have four grandchildren, have fundraised for local charities for more than three decades.

Sharing their formula for a long, happy marriage, Jim quipped: "The secret is to say 'yes dear' all the time."