A COUPLE celebrating their golden wedding anniversary have proved they have the right “chemistry”.Phil and June Baker, of Belsted Avenue, Caister met as science teachers in Guildford, Surrey, during the 1950s and June admitted they had a “magnetic attraction”.

A COUPLE celebrating their golden wedding anniversary have proved they have the right “chemistry”.

Phil and June Baker, of Belsted Avenue, Caister met as science teachers in Guildford, Surrey, during the 1950s and June admitted they had a “magnetic attraction”.

June, 75, and Phil, 77, were married at Midhurst parish church on Easter Monday, April 7, 1958, and June recalled: “It snowed on that day too!”

They later moved from Surrey to Coventry and then to Caister on June 6, 1966

The couple had two sons, Nigel, who is 45, and older brother Ian, who was tragically killed in a road accident near Acle at the age of 25. They have two grandchildren.

June said: “I have to say I found it difficult to settle for the first year after coming from the south, but we both quickly adapted to the way of life here with our teaching jobs.”

Phil taught science at the Great Yarmouth Grammar School (now Yarmouth High) and June also worked there part-time. Both stayed until retirement and to pursue their hobbies which include stamp collecting and photography.

They have vivid childhood memories of the second world war.

Phil said: “The war to an eight-year-old was all very exciting but as you get older you realise it was less funny for the adults who were trying to protect us. I got a taste of the Army with National Service.”

And they both agree that teaching today is a very different career.

June said: “I wouldn't go back to teaching today if I was younger, even it was offered. I think the profession went down when some schools allowed pupils to call their teachers by their first names. How can you instil respect and discipline doing that?”

Phil added: “Teaching today is different to what we remember but one thing does not change: the success of a school is down to the staff who work their with their head teacher.”

The couple celebrated 50 golden years with their family at a lunch at the Filby Bridge Restaurant on Saturday.

They continue to enjoy their hobbies, always together. June is show secretary for Gorleston Flower Club and Phil works as a volunteer driving elderly people to the James Paget University Hospital for their appointments twice a week.

And their recipe for a long and happy marriage? Doing things together, they say.