THEY first met as young children at school in India. Now Colonel Lionel Beglin, 85, and his wife Pamela, 82, have just celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.

“Pamela’s mother used to teach me and I can remember Pamela, who would have been about four years old at the time, swinging on the gate and showing her petticoats!,” laughs Col Beglin.

“We always kept in touch even though I was away serving in the army and Pamela was at teacher training college.”

The retired colonel served in the British and Indian army from 1945 to 1970 and was part of the British Raj during partition in 1947/48.

After he left the military, he worked as a probation officer for 20 years and founded Christian Concern in 1997 which offers two holiday homes for people in need – a charity social and welfare centre in India and a Christian holiday farm in Spain.

The couple who live in Queen’s Park, Bournemouth and have two children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandsons, celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary last Sunday at Winton Methodist Church.

“Pamela was diagnosed with dementia in July 2009 and she has to put up with me as her carer,” adds Col Beglin.

“Marriage is not always easy and we’ve had our share of ups and downs but we are still very much in love.”