THEIR family said they were too young to get married, but after 60 years together a Southampton couple are still happily wed.

Millbrook couple Michael and Pamela Humphrey celebrate their diamond anniversary today after first locking eyes on each other at a variety dance at Southampton’s Grand Theatre days back in 1952.

Merchant seaman Michael was due to spend the next three months at sea but after eventually tied the knot at St Boniface Catholic Church in Shirley Road when Pamela was days away from her 18th birthday in 1954.

After settling down in Shirley the couple eventually had three children – Susan, Deborah and Paul – and seven grandchildren.

After retiring from the maritime trade in the 1980s, the pair of history buffs have spent the last 20 years travelling and finding out about Southampton’s past but ill health has meant they have had to stop that. Through it all though, they have stuck together.

Pamela, 77, said: “Mum and Dad said it wouldn’t last but I hope they are looking down on us and seeing us still together.”

The couple gave their words of wisdom for those looking to create a a lasting marriage. Michael, 81, said: “We have had our ups and downs but we have stuck it out. You get these problems but you’ve got to overcome them.”