AN ABBOTTS Ann couple who married after a chance meeting are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary.

Eric and Eileen Underhill first laid eyes upon each other at Eileen’s family’s pub in Southampton on their first day at the helm.

“I only saw the barman in the pub so I went into keep him company and suddenly all her [Eileen’s] family arrived and I suddenly got swept into the crowd,” Eric, aged 89, said.

But it was not plain sailing as Eileen, who was only 16 at the time, thought Eric was a cousin she had never met and was calling him ‘Ralph’.

It was soon sorted when Eric, aged 22 and in the Royal Air Force, asked Eileen’s parents if he could take her out - and the love affair began.

And on December 16, 1953, the couple wed at the Church of Christ in Southampton, before they began exploring the world due to Eric’s RAF placements, including in Ireland, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

But one place the pair will always hold dear is South Africa, where they settled in after Eric left the service.

Eileen, now aged 83, said: “It was a beautiful country, a wonderful country then.”

On one of their escapades the couple decided to make the decision to move to the bundu - usually solely inhabited by natives.

“He [Eric] was an engineer and we always lived in the country, and he said ‘I am not sure I like living in the city’ and it turned out an air force medical officer was living in the bundu and he had taken over this village’s hospital. Eric decided he would like to live there so we set off and went up there,” Eileen added.

The pair returned to the UK and eventually settled in Abbotts Ann in the 1980s and raised their two sons, before welcoming four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The family shared the enjoyment of football, with Eric managing Andover Town when the team was in the Southern League.

And in their retirement the couple enjoyed playing bowls and walking their beloved dachshunds.

To celebrate their blue sapphire anniversary they will renew their wedding vows at the St Mary the Virgin Church in Abbotts Ann in January, and Eileen is treating Eric to a hotel stay in Southampton.

They have also shared words of wisdom to have a long and happy marriage, with Eileen saying: “We can have a laugh at things and we can also fight.”

Eric added: “Looking after each other is the mainstay of our marriage. You’ve got to listen to the other person.”