WHEN 20-year-old Ann Comley pulled her first pint in the Cross Keys pub in South Hinksey, she had no idea she was pulling it for her future husband.

Tony Allsworth ordered his ale when she was staying with the pub’s landlord while her parents were on holiday in Devon.

Today the couple are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary and still live in Manor Road, where the Cross Keys used to stand.

Mrs Allsworth, 81, who lived in Risinghurst with her parents, said: “My friend invited me to her parents’ house when my parents were away. They had the Cross Keys pub in those days.”

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She said: “The villagers decided Tony and I would make a very nice couple so the landlord pretended that he needed help at the bar and left me to serve him. I’d never served a pint before, I’d hardly ever been in a pub before.”

Mr Allsworth, 82, said: “I’d gone to the The General Elliot pub first, but they said they’d run out of cigarettes so I went up to the Cross Keys.

“When we came in I told my friend: ‘If that girl isn’t married then I’m marrying her’.”

After courting for two years the pair got married at Holy Trinity Church, Headington Quarry, on December 18, 1954.

Mr Allsworth, who served as a petty officer mechanic engineer in the Navy until 1956, said: “Ann was as good as gold, she saved all her money for me when I got home.”

The former Morris Motors superintendent, who was based at the Cowley plant, said: “We’ve never had any problems at all, we’ve always agreed on everything. We’ve worked hard all our lives.”

Mrs Allsworth, a former secretary, said: “Everybody has their ups and downs but it’s brilliant, really.

“Tony has been very good to me. He’s always been there for me, he’s been my rock.

“The best thing is he’s very loyal. If you make friends with Tony you’ve got a friend for life.”

Sixty years on and the couple have three children – Christopher, 54, Andrew, 51, and Carolyn, 48 – and four grandchildren aged between eight and 24.

Friends and family hosted a surprise party for the pair earlier this month to celebrate their anniversary and they will go out for lunch with their daughter’s family this afternoon.

Mrs Allsworth said: “The only advice I’d give young people now is to not walk off after the first tiff you have, and never sleep on a quarrel.”

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