Long marriage down to 'marrying the one you love'

"I really fell for her. I wanted to get to know her and be in her company more, she personified the ideal woman."

Raymond Powell, 98, said he knew he wanted to marry his wife Joan Powell, 97, from the first day they met.

The couple, from Rubery, on the Worcestershire-Birmingham border, celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary on Tuesday and put their lasting relationship down to "marrying the one you love".

"We've been through some traumatic times together but we've always come out smiling," Mrs Powell said.

The couple were married at a church in Northfield in 1950

They both worked at Austin Rover in Longbridge, Birmingham, and met when they were 19 and 20 on a work trip to London with friends.

Mr Powell, who was born in the Nechells area of the city, and grew up in nearby Aston, said he "was immediately attracted" to his future wife.

"My mum used to say I was besotted with her and it was an old word but it stuck in my mind ever since," he said.

"She seemed to me to be a person in control of her life and she knew where she was going.

"I took a liking to her immediately and I can say now because my sister reminded me that I told her I was going to marry Joan and I'd only just met her."

Mr Powell said he was "immediately attracted" to his future wife

Recalling the day they met, Mrs Powell, who was born in Winson Green, Birmingham, and grew up in the Northfield area of the city, said: "We went to London on a work trip to see Betty Hutton at the [London] Palladium and Ray was there with a friend.

"My friend's husband worked with Ray and we all sat together on the train from Birmingham and that's when I first met him.

"After the show he used to come and see me every dinner time where I worked and it all went from there."

The 97-year-old also recalled how her husband-to-be bought her a rose each week which she would pin to her jacket.

The couple have a third great grandchild on the way

Mr and Mrs Powell eventually tied the knot on 7 October 1950 at St Laurence's Church in Northfield.

"It was a lovely day and we still go to the church. It was a lovely day but things were rationed then so it was very basic.

"We could only go on our honeymoon for four days. We only went to Banbury because we couldn't really afford to go abroad and we went by taxi."

The couple would go on to have two children, Lynne and Michael, as well as three grandchildren and two great grandchildren, with a third on the way.