"STICK at it" is the advice Roger and Priscilla Swan give young people about to embark on marriage. They speak from deep, emotional experience.

The couple, who renewed their wedding vows on Saturday, have stayed together for more than 50 years against huge odds, including family opposition to the marriage, which forced them to run away to Gretna Green in 1959.

In the end, they didn't get married there, but returned to Kent, where the church service was held in April the following year.

Saturday's renewal service at St Mary the Virgin in Upchurch by the Rev Jackie Davies was attended by family and friends of the couple, who used to live in Sittingbourne, but retired to Perranporth in Cornwall eight years ago.

Roger, a former production manager with Wirebelt in Sittingbourne, and Priscilla (nee Wildish) met while working at Lowe's biscuit factory in the town in the late 1950s.

Priscilla says fondly: "It was love at first sight."

The relationship went from strength to strength and the couple announced to their families that they planned to get married. Roger was 20, Priscilla a year younger.

Reaction to the news was, to say the least, unwelcoming. Undeterred, Roger and Priscilla decided to make the long journey to Gretna Green to get married at the famous forge.

The couple went to register at the forge in Gretna Green, where marriages were performed by the "blacksmith". They were told they had to stay for three weeks, to qualify as residents before the wedding could take place.

Roger takes up the story: "After we'd been there a few days, my father came up and found us. He said the two families had discussed the matter and that provided we came back to Kent we could get married."

Their wedding was held at Upchurch (where Priscilla was brought up) on April 30, 1960.

Priscilla said: "It wasn't an easy ceremony. But we knew it was the right thing to do."

This conviction has kept the couple together through difficult times. Priscilla, who later trained and worked as a nurse at Medway Maritime Hospital, said: "It's been hard going, we've had our ups and downs, but here we are."

Roger and Priscilla had four daughters – Christine, Lauren, Ceri and Liane – who joined them for the service with grandchildren Aimee and Jerome, followed by a party. Grandson Alex was unable to be there.

The couple's advice to others considering marriage? "Stick at it – it's worth it."