CHRISTMAS bride Audrey Turner looked radiant in her white wedding dress as she walked down the aisle 50 years ago today.

But guests may have wondered why she wasn't shivering in the bitterly cold church in York.

Now, as she celebrates her golden wedding with husband Ted, Audrey has finally confessed: she was wearing a thick woolly jumper underneath the flowing gown.

"It was absolutely freezing," she said. "Everyone said how lovely the dress looked, but if only they knew!"

The couple, who live in Chelwood Walk, Holgate, got together when she was 16 and he was 18, when Audrey, now 70, went to watch Jack, now 72, play cricket.

They had known each other since they were at primary school, but Audrey said: "I didn't like him at school."

She said: "After the cricket match he came over and offered to walk me home. We've been walking ever since."

Jack, who is a retired accountant, said: "I can't define any particular secret to our marriage - it must be love."

The couple have three sons and one daughter and there are seven grandchildren.

The family hired a limousine to take the couple round their old stomping grounds to reminisce.

Updated: 11:21 Monday, December 23, 2002