PLATINUM wedding couple Jim and Alice Ryder are celebrating clocking up an astonishing SEVENTY years of happy marriage today.

But they might never have got together if it had not been for Jim's unusual line in fashionable headgear.

A then 16-year-old Alice Battersby spotted the love of her life in the old Olympia cinema on Spa Road when Jim, who was with his friend, wandered around during the interval with his flat cap cocked to one side.

Alice, 88, said: "Me and my friend spotted them and then one week he sat down next to me. I said: 'I'm having this one!' and I asked him to walk me home. We've been together ever since."

Jim, 89, and Alice were receiving masses of greets today including a telegram from the Queen at their Links Road, Harwood, home today to mark their amazing milestone. The special magic that has kept them together so long remains a bit of a mystery, even to them.

Alice added: "We don't drink, we don't smoke. We've had our ups and downs with hardly a penny to our name before pay day but we've stuck together and got on with it."

The couple will reflect on memories of their wedding day at St Thomas' Halliwell, surrounded by their five children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren at a special family party on Saturday.

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