A CLOSE-knit family and shared hobbies is the recipe for a happy 60 years of marriage according to one couple.

Tony and Margaret Greenham, of Beaminster, celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary this week after getting married on March 28, 1959.

Tony and Margaret met when they were around 13 to 14-years-old when Margaret was at the Beaminster and Netherbury Grammar School.

Tony said: “I was a Beaminster boy and we used to chase the grammar school girls.

“We couldn’t meet very much, they were very strict in those days and you couldn’t just go to town.”

When Margaret finished school, she went back home to Piddletrenthide to work in her dad’s garage doing the accounts.

The pair would both get the bus and meet in Dorchester, or sometimes cycle.

Tony added: “We used to go for a walk in the park – it was very innocent in those days – and we used to go for tea at a little café at the top of town in Dorchester. We either had poached egg on toast or beans on toast as that was all we could afford.”

Tony started an apprenticeship at Perry and Perry, a garage in Beaminster, as a mechanic before starting his national service with the Army in Germany.

Just before he left, they got engaged at 19-years-old.

When Tony returned, they bought their house in September 1958, where they have lived ever since and got married on March 28, 1958 in Piddletrenthide.

When they got married, Tony was a member of the Beaminster Band and they played at their wedding before Margaret also joined. That was when their life-long hobby and love of bands began, which would lead to them organising the annual Fairey Band concert in the town, something they have done for 40 years, and becoming honorary presidents of the Fairey Band in 2013.

After 10-months of marriage they welcomed their first child, Sonia, and went on to have three more.

They decided to start up their own business and opened a launderette in Beaminster, combining this with a private-hire taxi business, before expanding and buying three more launderettes in Chard, Crewkerne and Axminster.

When they retired, they sold the business but carried on with the taxi business and did the local school contracts.

Throughout their life together, Tony and Margaret have been involved with many local groups and organisations. Margaret is a founding member of Beaminster Twinning Association, and now the president, she was a church warden for 10 years, Tony is the chairman of Beaminster Royal British Legion and Margaret was made an honorary townsperson in 2014. This led to them being invited to the garden party at Buckingham Palace in 2015.

When asked what makes a long and happy marriage, Tony said: “I think family. We have got a very close-knit family with 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

“Because of our business, we have also been in one another’s pockets really, we have never worked apart and shared a hobby with the band.”

“My fondest memory is the two holidays with the family. To celebrate our ruby anniversary, we took 25 family members to Jamaica and for our golden anniversary we took 27 family members to Cuba. That has got to be one of the best memories and to do that was amazing.”

To mark this anniversary, Margaret and Tony are having a big party in the town with old friends from school, the army, work and bands with family members.