A WEYHILL couple walked down the aisle for the second time to renew their vows on the 50th anniversary of their marriage.

Derek and Maureen Dunham repeated their wedding vows on Saturday, exactly five decades after the original ceremony.

St Michael and All Angels Church, in Weyhill, was packed with 80 friends and family for Mr and Mrs Dunham’s special day.

And afterwards the happy couple invited everyone to continue the celebrations at their home of 26 years in Rectory Place.

Children Derek, Michael and Christopher, along with their families, presented the couple with gifts to help them remember the day.

Maureen said: “Until this weekend, we didn’t realise how many friends we have got – it was amazing.

Thanks to everybody for their support and all of our friends and neighbours.”

Derek, who lived in Kent but was based with the Army in Middle Wallop, and Andover-born Mrs Dunham, nee Wheeler, met at the town’s carnival in 1962.

Romance was sealed when they later met at the Fiesta Hall, in Andover, for a dance and Maureen invited him to her 21st birthday. They were married a year later in Andover but spent just a day on honeymoon in Salisbury, as Derek had to report for duty the next morning.

The couple made their home in Ludgershall and then Middle Wallop, before living in Germany for some five years while Derek remained in the Army. They returned to England to live in Anna Valley in 1972, and Derek left the Army in 1985.

He worked for Lloyds TSB for 15 years while Maureen was a senior clerk at Simply Health.

Grandad-of-five Derek said: “Maureen has been very tolerant, as I could list the things I have done which mean time away from her. Apart from each other, the most priceless thing to us is our family.”