Wigan couple know all the right moves as they celebrate 60th wedding anniversary

Doreen and Melvyn Gaskell were just 15 years old when they were paired together at a dance school and they have been moving in time ever since.

And the couple, who live in Gidlow, are now celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary after six decades of marriage.

Mrs Gaskell, now 81, said: “We were dancing partners at Moss School of Dancing. We were both very small so she partnered us up because we were the right size for each other. It went from there.”

Love blossomed and the couple became engaged when they were 18, before tying the knot three years later at St Anne’s Church in Beech Hill on March 23, 1963.

They danced together at venues across the North West, until an accident meant Mrs Gaskell had to hang up her dancing shoes.

The couple are both now retired, with Mrs Gaskell previously working as a seamstress while Mr Gaskell, now 82, worked at a bank in Wigan.

They now have two daughters, four grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Mrs Gaskell said: “We like going out to watch shows and going for a meal. We like a drink too.

"We are going out with the family to celebrate our wedding anniversary.”

And the secret to such a long and happy marriage?

"We seem to have respect for one another,” Mrs Gaskell said. “I think if you respect one another, that’s everything. You can’t be nasty to each other.”