A Skelmorlie couple who once owned a farm in Australia have celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.

Bill and Jean Smith returned to their roots three years ago and recently celebrated their 60 years together with a family meal and a cruise to Norway.

The couple married in Greenock in 1954 when Bill was a submariner.

He quipped: “I was on a bus and she saw the bell bottoms and the chance of duty free cigarettes and that was it!” The pair set up home but Bill’s work, which included building polaris submarines, took him all over the country and he was posted to Barrow-in-Furness, Blackpool and Portsmouth.

They got their first taste of Australia when he was drafted there for three years in 1959.

Bill, who recently turned 80, recalled some of the episodes in his career in the Navy.

He said: “I overhauled six submarines in Sydney built in Scott’s [of Greenock] for the Australians. Then we went up country and bought a farm — I had cattle and sheep.” But the farm proved too much for Bill who has heart problems and had five bypass operations and a pacemaker fitted.

The couple moved to Tasmania where Bill became a justice of the peace. They also spent a period in the bush.

However, the pull of home proved too much and they came back three years ago — and even in that short time they have moved house three times before settling in Skelmorlie.

When asked the secret of a long and happy marriage, Bill quipped: “Spending a long time at sea.” Jean, 78, said: “It’s give and take — I give and he takes. You have your ups and downs but you just keep going forward.” The couple have four children, Janice, 59, Sheila, 56, Charlene, 54 and Gordon, 52, and four grandchildren.