IT was a love of dancing that brought Elsie Batting and Kenneth Boddington together and a love they have continued to share over 65 years of marriage.

Today the couple, of Cuddesdon Way, in Blackbird Leys, Oxford, are celebrating 65 years of married life – and more than 40 years living on the estate.

Last month, they marked the milestone by returning to Blackpool, where they spent their first holiday.

They first met at a dance in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, in 1943, and relived the moment by taking a turn around Blackpool’s famous Tower Ballroom.

The couple married at Oxford Register Office on October 14, 1944.

Mr Boddington was on leave from the RAF at the time and the newly-weds moved to Knolles Hill, in Rose Hill, then to Blackbird Leys in 1966.

Mrs Boddington, 87, who worked at Nielsens, a market research firm, said: “When we first met I didn’t know I was going to get married to him straight away.

“He was a lovely man, very friendly and polite with a lovely personality.”

After leaving the RAF, Mr Boddington, who was born in Haddenham, worked as a coach driver and courier before joining Unipart.

The 88-year-old said: “We loved dancing, but I wasn’t at all good at it. We liked the quick-step.

“We’ve been together a long time, but you can’t just say you will definitely be married for 65 years – it just happens, things progress.

“Never go to bed on an argument, I say.”

Mrs Boddington said she and her husband, who used to help run Rose Hill Youth Club in the 1960s, enjoyed getting out in the countryside.

She said: “It’s very easy when you’re older to stay indoors and not think about going out, but that’s wrong, we think. We make the most of every day.

“Ken’s always very friendly and very polite and he would help anyone, he still would.

“We’ve never had any major arguments, we always try to pull together. Our secret is we try to please each other as much as we can.”

The couple have a daughter, Ann, 60, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

They will mark the anniversary with a family party in Chalgrove later this month.