A COUPLE who shared a love of cycling have pedalled their way to another momentous stage.

Ken Butcher and wife Sheila will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary on September 6.

The couple met at a dance at Kelly’s Club and Ken asked Sheila to dance.

“I wasn’t sure at first. He came up and asked me if he could have a dance and we got talking and then at the end of the session he came across and said, ‘Can I walk you home?’,” said Sheila, aged 82.

Sheila agreed but there was something that Ken had to ask her before, “Can we go and get my bike?”

“I was a very keen member of the Andover Wheelers and at that time bikes were getting stolen and I had hid mine in my friend’s garden and I said to her ‘I’ve got to go get my bike first,” Ken said. “So it was me and my bike or not all.”

The pair decided to meet up again and it progressed from there, and during their early years of marriage Ken joined the RAF in the ceremonial drill unit and was stationed at Uxbridge.

However, it did not stop the pair from seeing one another as they would ride their bikes to each other to be able to make the most of Ken’s free time.

The pair were then married in 1958 at St Mary’s Church, Andover, before spending their honeymoon in Paignton, Devon.

Over the years Ken has focused on growing a business empire and ran KW Butcher’s Builders Ltd, at Anna Valley Chalk Pits, along with Challis Tackle fishing shop.

Sheila took care of their three children Kevin, Rosalind and Clive, before going to work at Balksbury School in its office and finished as a teaching assistant.

The couple have also welcomed six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, many of whom were at their vow renewals for their golden wedding anniversary.

Sheila recalls that the occasion was like many others with Ken - full of surprises - as on the day he arranged for her brother to fly from Australia and chauffeur the pair to the church without Sheila realising.

And Ken said: “There have been so many surprises over the years.”

The pair have also been involved in a number of groups throughout their marriage, with Sheila involved in the Andover Operatics and the Gaybirds to name a few, while Ken has been involved with Andover Old Time Musical and the Test Valley Turners.

And they say their support for each other is one of the reasons they have reached their diamond wedding, but Sheila said it also about the communication between them.

Ken added that he believes the secret is that “she looks after the inside and I look after the outside.”

The pair will mark their anniversary with a trip around the UK.