THURSDAY December 20 is the diamond wedding anniversary of Londoners Fred and Nancy Wade, of Green Park, Wootton Bassett.

The couple first met at a dance in their teens. "I liked the way he danced, and that was it," Mrs Wade said.

The church they got married in had a hole in the roof from bomb damage and Mrs Wade evaded rationing by buying fabric for her wedding dress from a trader in Petticoat Lane. The dress is still in good condition and still fits her.

Their daughter Jacqueline was born in 1944. Mr Wade was in the Army, with REME, and was posted to Jamaica as an armourer in training with the Jamaican Infantry Volunteers.

He did not see his wife and daughter again for almost three years. "Though I enjoyed my time in Jamaica, I just wanted to come home to them," he said.

The couple both lead an active life, and still enjoy dancing, and celebrated with a party for 90 guests at the Hilton hotel, and a video compiled by their son-in-law Roger Blake.

The couple said: "We won't say we've never had a cross word, but you have to give and take, and we wouldn't give this up, not for the world."