A TADLEY couple will be celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary today.

Jim and Diane Ambridge will be marking 60 years of marriage together with 85 guests at a lunch on Sunday.

The pair met a dancing class in Edgware, Middlesex, where the pair are originally from.

The two of them consistently met from there and it was not longer after that they were married on July 26, 1958.

The date happened to coincide with Jim’s 21st birthday, making it a double celebration for the past 60 years.

The happy couple moved to the Basingstoke area when Jim’s work as a civil engineer with Scott, Wilson and Kirkpatrick moved around 28 years ago.

Both Jim and Diane have enjoyed travelling throughout their lives, particularly enjoying cruises.

The globe-trotting couple have been as far away as Australia, Hong Kong and Malaysia, with some of the travelling part of Jim’s old job.

Diane, 78, said: “We do like travelling, and really do have the wanderlust. We’ve been all over, and like to watch the sea go by.”

Jim and Diane are well-known locally, as both have been a part of the Loddon Valley Lions Club for 30 years, including a year where Jim was president of the club.

Jim said: “Everyone takes their turn at different roles in the club, and I’ve been president for my time. We help organise the Treacle Fair, and the float at Christmas.

"We’ve always been involved, and partners tend to join in as well.”

Getting on together has been the key to staying together so long, they say.

Jim said: “We have always had a good laugh, and we don’t argue much. There is also some give and take, and there are no scandals between us.”

The diamond couple will be celebrating this Sunday with a lunch at Sandford Springs Golf Club, where they have both played golf up until recently.

There, they will be joined by their three children, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, along with friends.