One of Helensburgh and Lomond's best known couples have celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.

Glasses were raised in a toast to George and Dorothy McGruer when they notched up 60 years of marriage.

Fittingly, the diamond wedding party - with guests ranging in age from three to 87 - was held at the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club in Rhu.

For as a member of the world famous McGruers boat building business at Clynder, George designed many famous racing yachts and at the age of 84 still likes nothing better than sailing his Flying Fifteen.

During their 60 years, together the seafaring couple enjoyed the challenge of yacht racing and sailed extensively throughout the west coast.

George was born and brought up at Clynder and went to school in Helensburgh where he met Dorothy who lived in Lochgoilhead where her family stayed for the rest of the war years after being bombed out of their house in Glasgow.

On almost their first date, George introduced Dorothy to sailing and she was quick to share his passion for the sea.

George left very soon after their marriage to work in Hong Kong as a ship surveyor with the Hong Kong government.

Dorothy joined him soon afterwards and was for a time PA to the Vietnamese consul before joining the British Government Trade Commission

In1962 they returned to Scotland where George joined the family business.

There he designed and built many famous racing yachts, one of which became a close rival of Edward Heath's Morning Cloud, beating her in the Fastnet race.

Before going abroad, Dorothy had worked in Glasgow University and on her return went back to her old job where she remained until her retirement. She then became a volunteer worker with the Red Cross and was chair of the Volunteer Council for some time.

George stayed with McGruers until his retirement and is still very much involved with boats.

George and Dorothy did a great deal of cruising around the west coast of Scotland after they gave up on active racing.

Dorothy, 82, told the Advertiser the secret to their long marriage was their shared interests, but also pursuing individual hobbies and pastimes.

They still stay at Rahane in the house they built 52 years ago.

The McGruers are a historic family who came to Britain with William the Conqueror and were granted lands in Scotland by the Normans around Inverness, and became the standard bearers for the Fraser clan.

Family research found references in Inverness Library to a McGruer building a wooden warship for a French nobleman in the year 1296, and by the late 1800s Ewing and George McGruer had established a boat business at Rutherglen.

Next they moved to Tighnabruaich, then came to Barremman, Clynder, in 1910.

The boatyard employed all trades, and at one time had 90 employees and records show they built over 700 bigger boats, with dinghies taking the total to 1,000.

In 2000 they sold their Rosneath boatyard for development in order to focus on survey and consultancy business.