YATE golden couple Julie and Dave Todd may have found friendship as teenagers but their compatibility has seen them through 50 years of marriage.

“We were both compatible and have always both said sorry if we have an argument,” said Mr Todd, 73. “I think that, and both being from big families, has seen us through.”

Originally from Yorkshire, Mr Todd moved to Calne in Wiltshire at the age of 13 and then to Bristol.

The pair met through friends in Henbury, Bristol in 1959 and married six years later on August 21, 1965 at St Mary’s Church in Henbury, followed by a reception at Blaise Castle.

“It absolutely tipped it down,” said Mrs Todd, 71. “The weather was horrible.”

The newlyweds lived with Julie’s parents for two-and-a-half years before buying their first and only home together in Northfield, Yate. “Yate was one of the cheapest places for housing at the time and we had friends out here,” she said.

“But I remember thinking it was the back of beyond back then.

“We bought our house new and there was nothing around us then.”

Keen amateur actors, Mr Todd, who worked for Halfords and as manager of Broadmead Radios before becoming a lorry driver for Febry’s, and his wife were enthusiastic members of the now defunct Rodford Players having performed in the group’s annual pantomime for many years.

After having their four children; Louise, 47, Mark, 45, Joanne, 42 and Craig, 39, Mrs Todd started her career in education working at St Paul’s Catholic Primary School in Yate and Little Stoke Infants as a teaching assistant. She joined Trinity Primary School in Acton Turville in 2000 and retired last year.

The couple were familiar faces at Rodford Primary School, which has since closed down and demolished to make way for new housing, and the former King Edmund Community School (now Yate International Academy) whilst their children were at school taking an active role on the PTA committee. They have 10 grandchildren who they look after regularly.

“The time seems to have flown by,” said Mrs Todd. “It only seems like yesterday we were getting married.

“Dave worked away a lot as a lorry driver and that was lovely but if we ever have an argument the least said the better I always think.”

The couple will be celebrating their golden wedding anniversary with a family barbecue this evening (August 21).