A COUPLE who met on on a day trip to Blackpool have certainly gone the extra golden mile!

For Joan and Gordon Howard, of Walmersley Road, Bury, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Friday and received greetings galore from family and friends.

The couple, who have one son, two daughters and six grandchildren, were married at St John's Church in Bury which stood on The Rock. It was an appropriate location as 72-year-old Gordon worked for 17 years as a firefighter at the fire station opposite to where the church stood.

Injury forced hom to leave the service and in 1974, he retired as an assistant engineer at Manchester Airport where he had worked for ten years.

Joan (71), trained as a nurse at Bury General Hospital She retired in 1974.

The couple celebrated their golden day with a party for family and friends.