A FAR-TRAVELLED Greenock couple who spent half their married life in Australia have returned to their roots — 60 years after they tied the knot.

Bill and Jean Smith, who now live in Skelmorlie, marked the milestone with a family meal and a cruise to Norway.

There were two reasons to celebrate as Bill turned 80 a few weeks before.

The pair have come a long way since they married all those years ago on 6 August 1954 in Larkfield.

Jean, 78, said: “We got married on two weeks’ wages. We don’t have any wedding pictures as Bill’s family and my family didn’t have a camera and we couldn’t afford a photographer.

“We knew we were married — we didn’t need to let anyone else know.” They wed at St Margaret’s Church in Larkfield, which was an old wooden hut where St Ninian’s Church now stands, with their families and best man Billy Tinney and Rose Smith, Bill’s sister, as bridesmaid.

Bill was a submariner and a chief petty officer in the Royal Navy for 24 years and quipped that Jean fell in love with his uniform.

He said: “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.

The couple were blessed with four children, Janice, 59, Sheila, 56, Charlene, 54 and Gordon, 52, and four grandchildren.

They were born in Scotland but were teenagers when the family moved to Western Australia.

They all have successful careers and have their own families.

Bill recalled some of the episodes in his fascinating career in the Navy and after he retired.

He said: “I overhauled six submarines in Sydney built in Scott’s 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.

Bill said: “I didn’t want to die in a foreign country. We just thought the time had come to come home.

“We are very happy to be back.” When asked the secret of a long and happy marriage, Bill quipped: “Spending a long time at sea.” Jean said: “It’s give and take — I give and he takes. You have your ups and downs but you just keep going forward.

“I lead and he follows. Our children have my attitude to life, you get out there and get on with it.

“They’ve got a good work ethic. They know if you want something, you’ve got to go out and work for it.” Jean has been the backbone of the family throughout their six decades together.

Bill said: “She did everything — all I did was make the money.” The couple would love to hear from best man Billy Tinney and are appealing for him to get in touch by contacting the Tele on 558928.