MEET the real Lighthouse family! York couple Rob and Mary Watson, whose house in Woodlea Avenue, Acomb, is decorated with hand-made lighthouses, are celebrating 60 years of marriage.

The light of love was illuminated when Rob, 83, was hospitalised with shell-shock during the Second World War. His ship had been bombed during a notorious Dunkirk crossing.

Mary, 81, became Rob's pen-pal during his recuperation and they were later married on her 21st birthday.

"Mary wrote to me all the time - it really kept me going," said Rob, who moved to York in 1958 to work as a wagon builder.

On his retirement, he took up making model lighthouses to keep him occupied. Large replicas of lighthouses from Hartlepool, St Ives and Eddystone - which flash lights in the same sequence as the real ones - adorn the couple's home. Rob and Mary have two sons, Robert and Lawrence, and one grandson.

"I make the tea while he makes the models," Mary said.

"It brings him a lot of pleasure."

Updated: 08:30 Friday, February 28, 2003