DAVID BOND made the best decision of his life when he changed his plans for a night out in Blackpool in 1963.

Mr Bond and a friend had arranged to meet two girls outside Blackpool Tower but after a waiting a while decided to head for the Tower ballroom instead.

It was there the Welshman spotted future wife, Alwyn, from Spennymoor, on the dance floor and struck up a conversation that would lead to 50 years of marriage.

The couple wrote and visited each other when they could until Mr Bond lost his job as a dance room DJ and decided to move to Spennymoor, where he found factory work.

They married at the Independent Methodist Church, on Craddock Street, in 1965 and lived in Kirk Merrington for ten years before moving to Barnard Close, Spennymoor, when it was built.

Mr and Mrs Bond, who celebrate their golden wedding anniversary today (Friday, April 17), have one son, Andrew, and two grandsons, David and Dean.

Both worked at Black & Decker when they retired and Mr Bond became a market trader selling and repairing watches, which he still does at the Thames Centre, in Newton Aycliffe.

They love music and have travelled across the country and made lots of friends attending rallies and shows with their five classic cars.

Mr Bond, 71, said: “The best decision of my life was to go inside the tower that night.

“I would say to any couple to stick together and not let small niggles get in the way when they can be sorted out.”

Mrs Bond, 68, added: “It has been a good marriage for us both and we’ve always worked together.”