IT WAS in 1957, when Harold Macmillan was at number 10 and you could buy a house for £2,000, when a 28-year-old police officer and a 23-year-old Finnish au pair crossed paths in London.

This week, Brian and Taimi Wells, now living in Pontrobert, celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.

“I was a policeman in London for 30 years – but I’m going straight now,” joked Brian.

“She was an au pair, living with a family and learning English, and training to be a model.

“Her face was in all the evening papers in London.”

Taimi’s face is now a more familiar sight in Pontrobert Post Office, which she has been running since the couple moved to Mid Wales 30 years ago.

Now aged 88 and 83, they say they have cracked the secret to a long and happy marriage.

“I learnt in the police force that in any walk of life, you want to have a sense of humour,” said Brian.

“If you haven’t, life is hard.”

But that sense of humour sometimes gets him into trouble – Taimi has banned him from the Post Office when there are customers in just in case he offends someone with one of his trademark jokes.

One thing Brian hasn’t mastered is Taimi’s native language, but each day he brings her a cup of tea in bed at 6am to wish her “hyvää huomenta,” which he thinks means ‘good morning’.

Taimi is making one of her regular trips back to Finland on December 3, but on their anniversary last Thursday, November 23, Brian treated her to a meal at their favourite restaurant, the Harp Inn in Old Radnor.

So, what drew them to Pontrobert all those years ago? Brian still doesn’t know.

“She sat up in bed one morning in 1987 and said ‘I want to move’,” he said.

“I didn’t question it – she moved from Finland to marry me. So, I thought, whatever makes her happy.”