Ref. 30770-11MODERN couples can keep in touch using their mobiles every day, but Keith and Monica Marshall's early married life meant hours waiting in a draughty telephone box for a quick chat twice a week.

Keith was doing his national service as an RAF airframe fitter based at the other end of the country at RAF Kinloss in Scotland, while Monica was back at home in Swindon.

"I used to call from a phonebox on the station and she used to go to a box outside the Co-op in York Road and wait for me to call," he explained. "In those days you used to make a trunk call and sometimes we used to have to wait an hour for a line to be connected all the way down from Scotland. But it was always worth it."

The couple, who celebrated their golden wedding on Saturday, met when Monica was working in Miss Crate's sweet shop in Victoria Road and Keith walked in the door as a customer.

He asked her out on a date almost immediately and before long they were walking out together and going to regular dances at the Locarno. "I took a liking to her straight away," he said.

His national service had been deferred until 1953 when he was 21 to allow him to finish his apprenticeship with Vickers. He left the firm in 1957 to join Pressed Steel as a fitter, retiring as a supervisor after 36 years.

He and Monica, who are both 72 and have seven grandchildren, brought up their three sons Ron, 39 and twins Derek and Phillip, 46, in the Upham Road family home they have shared since 1958.