THEY were united by a pair of socks, and they’ve been knitted together ever since.

John and Olive Price, who met on a youth hostelling holiday with friends, celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary today in Wantage.

They grew up just a few miles away from each other in Mitcham, South London – he went to the boys’ school and she went to the girls’ school.

But they did not meet until they both happened to go on holiday to the Isle of Wight with friends.

Our top stories

Mrs Price, nee Horwood, 82, remembered: “We met at sundown on the beach, then I left my socks behind at the youth hostel.”

She only realised the mistake when she got home, so called the hostel and told staff to give the socks to her new friend John, who was still there, and could bring them to her.

She said: “I don’t think it was love at first sight, I just thought he was alright.”

Mrs Price is a year older than her husband, and she joked: “I always tell people he’s my toy boy.”

They had an on-off relationship, but finally tied the knot at Christ Church, Colliers Wood, on March 26, 1955.

Two years later, Mr Price got a job at The Atomic Energy Authority at Harwell.

They moved to Abingdon first, then to a pre-fab at Harwell then to one of the houses for Harwell workers in Charlton, Wantage, on Harcourt Road.

In 1963, they moved to one of the new homes in Barnards Way, Wantage, and have lived there ever since.

They now have two sons, one daughter and eight grandchildren.

Mrs Price took a job alongside her husband at Harwell as a secretary in 1958, although she said their paths did not often cross.

Daughter Denise was born the following year, and she was followed by David in 1961 and Michael in 1964.

With so much time taken up with her brood, Mrs Price did not return to her job at Harwell until 1975.

Mr Price took early retirement in 1987, but Mrs Price stayed on until 1993, to “keep him in the way to which he’d grown accustomed,”

she joked.

Husband and wife have both volunteered at the Vale and Downland Museum, Wantage, for the past 15 years.

They are both working on a longterm project photographing the museum’s extensive collection of artefacts to create a digital archive.

Asked what the secret of a long marriage was, Mrs Price said: “A good few arguments, then you make up again and forget about it.”

But she added: “He doesn’t call it an argument, he calls it a ‘very vigorous discussion’.”