True to his word, 65 years later the couple are marking their wedding anniversary with family.

Arthur said he was attracted to Joy because ‘she was the only one who knew how to dance’ .

“The others all had two left feet,” he said.

Arthur and Joy were engaged after two weeks. They married 18 months later at Baradine on December 19, 1953.

The couple have four daughters, four grandsons, two granddaughters, two great grandsons and three great granddaughters.

While Arthur and Joy have had their ups and downs, they never once considered divorce.

“Anyone who tells you it’s all smooth sailing is telling you lies,” Arthur said.

Joy was born at Baradine on September 16, 1933 and Arthur was born at Gateshead in the UK on May 27, 1934.

The couple married when they were 20-years-old.

They agreed that couples these days tend to give up on each other too easily.

Arthur said people tend to be caught up in self imposed financial pressure.

“These days the young generation want a three or four bedroom house and will fork out massive mortgages” he said.

“However they’ve got nothing to live off if something happens.”

When Arthur and Joy’s first daughter Sylvia was born she slept in a draw instead of a cot.

“You have to live within your means,” Joy said.

Joy and Arthur ran a newspaper in Port Stephens called The Port Stephens Pictorial.

They moved to Brisbane and started a magazine for the New Age called The Silver Cord which had a nation-wide circulation of 18,000.

They also established the Body and Health Harmony Festival in 1990 at Brisbane.

Joy enjoys reading and gardening, while Arthur is passionate about photography, hypnosis, massage and body casting.

Arthur and Joy moved to the Camden Haven earlier this year from Brisbane.

The couple will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary by going out to dinner with their family.