It was wartime and by chance Gordon Ashford, who was serving in the British Army medical corps in Scotland, was pulled out of a line of soldiers destined for France and sent to Aldershot in Hampshire instead for onward posting to an unknown destination.

"You are a very lucky man," his commanding officer told him, without giving anything away.

And indeed he was, for had he gone to France he would never have met Isabel Frith, the young woman who would become his devoted wife.

"I sailed on the Oropesa in March 1940 and only learned en route that I was coming to Bermuda," Mr. Ashford remembers.

"When I arrived I was posted to the military hospital at Prospect, which is where Isabel was doing Volunteer Aide Detachment work."

Mrs. Ashford takes up the story.

"A bunch of us trained in first aid and as home nursing aides, and we had to take exams.

"The Telephone Company, where I working as an operator, gave me a day off each Tuesday to go up to the hospital as a nurse's aid. When I first saw Gordon he was having a cup of tea."

The couple admit that, far from being a case of love at first sight, they got to know each other gradually.

"I met Isabel's family, and her mother, Mabel, was very good to strays, so it became my second home almost," Mr. Ashford says.

Like everyone else, he travelled by bicycle - an apparently ramshackle specimen he had cobbled together from bits and pieces.

Even so, when he was later stationed in St. David's for a time, the young medic would pedal back and forth to Hamilton to see his lady love.

Occasionally, they went to a film or attended dances at the Overseas League, but mostly they enjoyed family life and picnics.

After a three-year courtship, the Ashfords were married on Isabel's birthday - April 26, 1943 - in an evening ceremony at Wesley Methodist Church.

"Isabel said the date was a good idea because it coincided with Easter weekend and the church would be beautifully decorated," Mr. Ashford notes.

The couple spent their honeymoon on Watlington Island and then settled down to married life.

In 1946 Mr. Ashford joined the Bermuda Transportation Company, which was owned by Pearman, Watlington & Co.

He remained with the parent company for 19 years and rose to become the manager of its retail division before going on to open his own firm, Advertising and Business Consultancy. Later, he established an import business, which he operated until he retired.

Mrs. Ashford, meanwhile, continued to work in various departments of the Bermuda Telephone Company until she retired in 1975 after 50 years' service.

Along the way, the couple had two children, Michael and Joy, and in 1957 built their own home in Point Shares.

Today, they are also the proud grandparents of six grandchildren, and rejoice in the closeness of their family ties.

"Michael and Joy call us every morning and every evening, and if they know we have been out somewhere during the day they call to check on us as well. Our grandchildren are also very good to us," Mrs. Ashford says.

Throughout their married lives, the couple have been devoted and active members of Wesley Methodist Church, which they attend regularly, as do their children.

Among their many forms of service, Mr. Ashford, a former chorister at Chester Cathedral in England, sang in the choir for decades, and still remains a trustee.

The couple have also given years of dedicated service to the community.

Among other things, Mr. Ashford was a member of the Salvation Army advisory board for 35 years, and post-retirement he assumed responsibility for the office of the Lady Cubitt Compassionate Association (LCCA).

His community service was recognised twice by the Queen, first in 1984 when he received the Queen's Certificate and Badge of Honour, and ten years later when he was awarded the MBE.

Mrs. Ashford devoted herself to a host of behind-the-scenes good works, and also spent years as a volunteer with Meals on Wheels.

Looking back on their lives together, Mrs. Ashford says: "It has been a wonderful journey."

She describes their marriage as "long and happy", and says that after all these years they have become so close that they not only think alike but instinctively look for each other when they are not together.

In fact, they sit side by side holding hands throughout the interview, and the warm affection in which they hold each other is obvious.

"We share everything," Mrs. Ashford says, "and we made a point of never going to bed upset with each other, which is a good thing."

"You must learn to give and take," her husband agrees. "When you marry young you have to believe that you are marrying the person whom you love and want to live with for the rest of your life, and that it is going to work.

"Our belief in church is also important. I think that a belief in Christ and the meanings of the church help a lot in a marriage."

Asked what advice they would give to young people contemplating marriage, Mrs. Ashford says: "Be very sure you are in love with the person you are going to marry.

"Realise that you will have differences of opinion, but the main thing is to settle them before you go to bed at night. If you agree with everything right away, then somebody is a doormat."