A COUPLE who met as teenagers are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary.
Helen and Jim Ashpole, who now live on the Isle of Wight, first met when they were 15 and 16 years old respectively, living in the same flats in Highbury, North London.
The couple married on October 24, 1959, after Jim signed up for the army, aged 17.
They went on to have three sons and five grandchildren.
Read more: Isle of Wight couple celebrate 60 happy years of marriage
The couple moved to the Island to run a guesthouse in Ventnor.
Helen and Jim, who have travelled the world on 16 cruises, celebrated their anniversary by staying at Warner's Bembridge, organised by their sons.
The couple were then given an extra surprise, when they were taken to the Dairyman's Daughter pub in Arreton for lunch, with the rest of the family there to greet them, last Thursday (October 24).
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The Ashpoles also received a card from King Charles, to join the one they received from Queen Elizabeth, for their 60th anniversary.
Helen said: "We moved to the Island to run a guesthouse in Ventnor. This was hard work, but we did it for 12 years and made some good friends.
"We have done 16 cruises and have been all over the world.
"Unfortunately, our mobility is not so good now and we just about manage to do coach trips."
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