“YOU have got to have give and take and have respect for one another.”

That is the secret of an Andover couple’s long and happy marriage as the pair look back ahead of celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary today (August 2).

Shirley and Charles Ford, of Mead Road, met in 1954 in Steptoe’s Café in the town centre where their groups of friends used to hang out for a drink and a chat.

“We were just talking amongst ourselves and he knew about me when we met but I didn’t know anything about him,” Shirley, aged 82, said.

Charles, also aged 82, added: “We just talked to start off with.”

The couple were only dating for around four weeks when Charles left for national service and was out of the country for two years with the Army.

But that did not stop them from communicating as they would exchange letters whenever it was possible.

Shirley said: “At one time he sent me his last 10 shillings for my birthday, and someone said to me that one day he [Charles] will be the man who I marry and he was.”

Charles returned to Andover in 1956 and the couple were wed in 1958 at St Mary’s Church.

The big day happened during their two weeks off from work and they set off on their honeymoon on the back of Charles’ motorbike.

“We went along the south coast somewhere and as we set off it just poured with rain all the way down to where we were going.”

Upon returning from honeymoon they moved in with friends in Hurstbourne before setting up home in a caravan in Anna Valley, but eventually moved to their current home 48 years ago to raise their three children, Tracy, Karen and Glenn.

The couple also have two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Throughout their time as husband and wife the pair have undertaken many jobs, with Charles at one time working as a laundry driver for St John’s Hospital and Shirley employed at Windsor Floors.

But after Charles retired from being a postman and Shirley at TSB the couple began to enjoy their later years together.

And they say the reason they are celebrating becoming a diamond couple is that they spend a lot of time together.

“We do everything together; we go out for meals and go into town together,” Shirley said.

They will celebrate their anniversary with a party surrounded by their friends and family at their home.