A GLOBE-TROTTING West Linton couple have celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary with family and friends, and told of their extensive travels over the years.

Patricia, 84 and Spence McKenzie, 89 toasted the special day with lunch at the West Linton Golf Club on Saturday, April 1 with their three daughters Jacqueline, Jennifer and Victoria and other family members.

The pair met in 1955, and married a few years later on March 30, 1957 at St Andrews Church in West Linton.

The following year, Spence started work as Fireman in Darnick. The couple lived in Symington where their three daughters were born. Spence became a station officer in Hamilton after passing all his exams in 1968.

In 1969, a lucrative job opportunity arose for Spence to become station officer in Gwelo, Rhodesia (renamed Gweru, Zimbabwe in 1982). After taking up the offer, Patricia and Spence sold up and flew to East Africa, with the children aged 10, 6 and 20 months.

Patricia told the Peeblesshire News: "After arriving in Africa, we took the train from Salisbury (now Harare) to Gwelo and started our new life. It was a very happy time and we made many good friends. I worked as a teacher while Spence worked in the fire service. But sadly, things began to change in the country and we decided to go back to Scotland a few years later.

"In 1971, we embarked on a three-day train journey from Bulawayo to Cape Town, where we had a few days before a three week sail to Southampton, then we took the train back to Edinburgh."

Spence was soon offered a fire prevention job with the Civil Service covering buildings in the North of Scotland and the islands, with the family uprooted again to Aberdeen.

Several promotions throughout the 1970s and 1980s saw Spence, Patricia and the family move around to the country to Croydon, Leeds and London.

In 1989, he retired and the couple spent several years in Harrogate before another move in 1992, where they spent four years in Forres, Moray.

Patricia added: "My sisters flat in West Linton became available in the mid 1990s so we decided to move back to Peeblesshire. As the seasons changed, we also spent many winters in sunnier climbs in South Africa and Spain.

"We're both keen Golfers and Bowlers and on our visits to South Africa, we played golf on 26 courses, including the middle of the Krugar Park with no protecting fence to separate us from the wild animals!"

As the couple moved around, Patricia worked for many years as a darkroom technician in the X-ray departments of Aberdeen, Epsom and Harrogate Hospitals.