Friendship and a sense of humour is the key to a long, loving marriage say Barbara and Jim Kirby, who recently celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary.

The couple, of Melbourne Road, Bushey, first met back in August 1958 at a Flanagan’s Fair in Leavesden Green.

Barbara who was 15 at the time said: “I always said to my Mum after I’d met him that he’d be the one that I would marry.

“I was engaged at 17, married at 18 and had my first son at 19.”

The couple got married at St Michaels Church in Watford on September 23, 1960.

Talking of their wedding day, Jim, 78, said: “It was an amazing day. We hired a hall and had all our friends and family there – it was magnificent.

“When Barbara got to the church there was this great big Irish Wolfhound that nearly knocked her over – he was a lovely dog though.”

Barbara, 72, added: “My mum had her friend make our wedding cake for £5 and I also bought my wedding dress, which was brand new, for £5.

“You’d be lucky to find anything for that price now.”

For the first eight years of their marriage they lived in a caravan on the Winfield Caravan site before moving to their current home in Bushey in April 1969.

Jim, who served in the army for three years in the Middle East as part of the KRC Green Jackets, said: “We have always done everything together.

“I used to be in a band with my brothers and played the harmonica. We used to play at the White Lion pub in St Albans almost every weekend and we’d all go up as a family together.”

The couple, who have four children, seven grandchildren and two great grandsons, also used to go square dancing in Hemel Hempstead and perform at various events.

Barbara said: “We really used to love square dancing – it was a great, social thing that we did together. And I used to like dressing up in the outfits, which I still have.

“However, we had to stop because of Jim’s health.”

Jim, who grew up in Garston, was diagnosed in 2009 with having a condition associated with prolonged exposure to asbestos, which has affected 20 to 30 per cent of his lungs.

When Jim was 16 he used to work at a manufacturing company in Tolpits Lane where they made asbestos sheets for construction.

He said: “I can barely play the harmonica now or dance and move like I used to – and reaching this anniversary is a milestone for us.”

To celebrate their 54th wedding anniversary the couple went out for dinner in High Wycombe.

Jim also bought his wife jewellery as a gift but added that has “never” bought her flowers as he doesn’t believe in buying something that is eventually thrown away.