A CHANCE meeting in the snow sixty years ago has led to a couple celebrating their Diamond wedding anniversary.

Len, 83, and Alice Sharley, 79, of Havenfield Road, High Wycombe were due to enjoy their anniversary today, two days before Mrs Sharley's 80th birthday.

Mr and Mrs Sharley met outside High Wycombe's town hall on a winter's day when Len was 18, and Alice was 15.

It was snowing and Alice was walking down the town hall steps when she slipped.

She said: "I grabbed the nearest person to me and it was Len. We became friends and it went from there."

Gradually romance developed between them and they got engaged when Alice was 18.

The couple married at High Wycombe's All Saints Parish Church on January 2, 1943.

Mrs Sharley says it was cold but a fine day. After the wedding, the pair went for a two week honeymoon in North Berwick in Scotland.

Mr Sharley was in the army for six-and-a-half years from 1939 onwards.

For the first few years, he remained in the country so they still saw each other regularly. He then went to West Africa for three years. When he came back to High Wycombe, he resumed his job as an electrician.

She said: "We're grateful we've lived long enough to celebrate the anniversary and to have kept in good health. The secret to a happy marriage is not to live in each others pockets and to be individuals."

The couple have three children, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Their children arranged a celebration meal at the Bird in Hand, High Wycombe, with all the family.