He left her bowled over with his charm.

And more than 60 years later former Armitage Bridge second team cricket captain Roy Moorhouse is still the tops with his wife Shirley, as the pair celebrated their diamond anniversary.

It was a pairing meant to be for the Berry Brow couple, who grew up together before tying the knot.

Shirley, 81, nee Pinder, said: “We knew each other from living in the same area but it was through joining the youth club at the now demolished Salem Chapel that we became good friends.

“I went on my first date with Roy when I was around 17– my friend and I met him and a friend in Huddersfield and it went well.

“Perhaps it was because he paid for our bus fare home that he got in my good books– and he’s been paying ever since”, she joked.

They tied the knot several years later, when Shirley was 21 and Roy 23.

Armitage Bridge Cricket Club

“We married at Salem Chapel and then moved into a house on the street Roy grew up, Church Terrace.

“I had not lived far away on Chapel Street.”

They both enjoyed their jobs, Roy as a lab technician and then representative for ICI and Shirley as a secretary, as well as being active members of leisure groups.

“Roy has been an almost life long member of Armitage Bridge Cricket Club and played as a batsman and captained the second team for many years”, said Shirley.

“And I am still a member of the West Riding Lady Drivers’ Club.

“We didn’t have the same hobbies but spend lots of time together by going out; we love eating out together.

They also enjoy being happy parents to Susan, 59, and Robert, 57, and grandparents to Sam, Tom, James and Daniel and will celebrate their special milestone with family and friends at Armitage Bridge Cricket Club.

Talking about their marriage, Roy said: “It’s been a wonderful 60 years.”