Richard ParrA couple who met at dance went on to become life-long partners during seven decades of matrimony.Next week Barry and Vera Hawes, of Toftwood, Dereham, will celebrate their 70th anniversary with a party for family and friends at their neat bungalow home at Lydgate Close.Richard Parr

A couple who met at dance went on to become life-long partners during seven decades of matrimony.

Next week Barry and Vera Hawes, of Toftwood, Dereham, will celebrate their 70th anniversary with a party for family and friends at their neat bungalow home at Lydgate Close.

Vera, 90, recalled vividly the dance in her home town of Portsmouth at which she met the man who was to become her future husband and father of their two children.

"Barry was on the dance floor and when he came back he said that I was sitting in his chair and I just replied that there were other seats for him to sit on and that's how it all started," she said.

They courted for two years and were married on June 8, 1940. They went on to have two children, a son, Barry junior, and a daughter, Julie.

They have had an interesting married life which included moves to Jersey and Croydon.

Mr Hawes, 90, was born in Norwich and moved to live with his parents at the Kings Head pub at Fulmodeston. He joined the merchant navy at the age of 16.

Service in the merchant navy took Mr Hawes all round the world and when he came out of the service in 1936 he joined the Royal Marines.

He was to earn himself a place in history by being the oldest survivor of the torpedoed HMS Royal Oak, which lost 833 men in just 13 minutes.

Mr Hawes returned to civilian life in 1948 and found work as a bus driver in Portsmouth. He then began work as an insurance agent working his way up to manager at different locations including Jersey and Croydon. He retired at the age of 60 after 28 years'service.

His wife worked during their married life, apart from when she had their children, and they shared a mutual interest in playing golf.