A CALNE couple will be celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary surrounded by friends and family at the weekend after they met in a pub in the 1940s.

Joyce and Dennis Dunn fell in love after locking eyes across the bar at the Jolly Trooper in Bradenstoke in 1947, where Joyce grew up with her grandparents.

"She was brought up in a pub in Bradenstoke by her grandparents," 93-year-old Mr Dunn, of Braemor Close, said. "That was where we met. I had just come out of the navy, where I spent five or six years during the war as a stoker and she had just come out the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI).

"Was it love at first sight? It must have been."

The couple, who have lived in Calne for nearly 60 years, got married at the Church of St Mary in Bradenstoke on Easter Monday, April 7, 1947, which was also Joyce's 21st birthday.

"Joyce's sister and my sister were the bridesmaids on the day and we went to Jersey on our honeymoon," Mr Dunn added. "We were only meant to go for a week but we ended up staying ten days because we wanted to!"

Talking about the secret of their success, Mr Dunn said: "We have always done what we wanted to do in life and on holiday and that's it."

The couple are now looking forward to celebrating their platinum anniversary with their two sons Peter and Edward, their five grandchildren and four great grandchildren at the Lysley Arms in Chippenham on Sunday.