NEIGHBOURS and friends gathered at a street party last Saturday to celebrate the golden wedding

anniversary of Burley Woodhead's oldest and longest-standing resident and his wife.

Leonard Whetzel, who was born in Burley Woodhead in 1914, married Dorrien, 72, at Leeds Parish Church on July 28 1951 and the couple have lived in the tiny hamlet ever since, on Prospect Row.

The pair met through a mutual friend when Mrs Whetzel (ne Jagger) was 16 but love didn't blossom for another four years.

Mrs Whetzel said: "I joined the land army and was away from home.

"When I got back the young man who was our friend was taken ill. Leonard and I met at the hospital and then we started courting."

Mr Whetzel, 86, who was the village cobbler and school caretaker for many years, said he and his wife had had a happy half-century together.

"It's down to sticking to your marriage vows," he said.

"There have been lots of ups and bits of down," added Mrs Whetzel. "There isn't a secret to a happy marriage - it just happens. We just get on with it."

On Saturday, a summer street party organised by the residents of Prospect Row for the second year running, coincided with the couple's big day.

Mr and Mrs Whetzel were joined by their two daughters Margaret Elizabeth, 42, and Frances, 38, and grandchildren Charlotte, 14 and nine-year-old Lawrence.