Mr Repetto said: "In England if you ain't got money, you can't live. In Tristan you can kill a sheep, catch a fish or grow potatoes and still have a happy life." Most returned to the south Atlantic within two years once the volcano was declared safe but the street in the village of Calshot where they were housed is still called Tristan Close. However Mr Repetto's sister Dora met and married a Surrey man, Keith Tarrant. The couple still live in Tristan Close. Mrs Tarrant, 83, remembers leaving the island. She said: "It was very frightening but someone said we were saved. We were just amazed when we saw cars for the first time." The island is now home to about 80 families and the economy now revolves around a lobster processing plant. For visitors to the island who brave the choppy south Atlantic seas, there is a sign of the safehaven which Hampshire provided 50 years ago as the new harbour on Tristan da Cunha has been named Calshot Harbour.