Couple's golden trip down memory lane

The couple were over the moon with the surprise arranged by their daughters for an anniversary treat on Saturday. They were picked up from their home in Wollescote, Stourbridge, in the immaculate Austin Seven Pearl before being taken to Dunsley Hall Hotel in Kinver where they enjoyed afternoon tea with their family before an overnight stay.

It was a trip down memory lane for the couple as the car was the same model as Geoff had owned as a teenager. "My first car was an Austin which I bought for £45 from my Uncle Clement when I was 18," said the 74-year-old, retired teacher. "It is a favourite of mine, I would love another one."

The couple shared some memorable occasions in their own Austin, most notably a terrifying drive when the brakes failed as they were driving down a Welsh mountainside in Knighton.

And on another occasion the car was stolen while the couple were at the cinema in 1959. Geoff said: "It was found in Malvern about three months later. Somebody had been using it as a getaway car and they had had repairs done on it and the chap who did them sent me the bill for £7."

The surprise was organised by daughters Elizabeth and Lorraine. Lorraine, said: "We were going to get a taxi for them but I got carried away and thought it would be such a nice surprise."

Maurice Dickens, 69, from the Stourbridge Pre-War Car Club, who chauffeured the couple, said: "It is nice to bring back memories for people."

Geoff and retired classroom assistant and secretary Jean, 72, met whilst out on their bicycles at Stourbridge Park when Jean was 17 and Geoff 19.

They had their first date at the Odeon in Stourbridge and tied the knot at St Michael's Church, Brierley Hill on February 23,1963.