Give and take is the key to any successful marriage according to North Bradley couple Paul and Shirley Nicholls, who will celebrate their diamond wedding next Thursday (July 16).

The couple have known each other since childhood and went on their first date to the Vista Cinema in Westbury in 1951 when Paul was 13 and Shirley was 15 to watch John Wayne in the film She Wore A Yellow Ribbon.

Their relationship blossomed and they got engaged three years later, before marrying on July 16, 1955, at All Saints Church in Westbury.

They lived with Shirley’s parents in Westbury until moving into their first home in Church Lane, North Bradley, in 1959. They moved to their current home in Willow View in 1967 after Paul started a job at Bath City Council.

Mr Nicholls, 77, who went on to work for Wiltshire County Council, said: “We knew each other from when we were toddlers. Shirley used to come to my birthday parties when I was about six.

“When we were teenagers I asked if she wanted to go to the pictures and she said that would be nice, but she had to check with her mum, who said it was fine. I had to ask her to pay for herself, though, as she had just got a job and I only had only just got a paper round.

“We were married in All Saints Church and it was incredibly hot on that day. It was so hot you could see the perspiration running down the face of the vicar and we had to have our pictures out the back of the church so the sun wasn’t in our eyes.

“We went on honeymoon to Newquay and on the last night I accidentally dropped her on the floor while doing a novelty dance and she broke her ankle. When we came back to her parents, her mum asked me what I had done to her daughter.”

The couple have two daughters, Rachel and Virginia, six grandchildren, three great grandchildren and one more on the way.

Mrs Nicholls, 79, worked for AE Farr Ltd as a shorthand typist in Westbury, before giving up work when the couple’s daughters were born. She later returned to work at Wiltshire County Council.

Her husband went on to work for the National Trust in Stourhead and after being made redundant from Wiltshire County Council in 1987, before being made redundant again and starting work at a clothing company in Chippenham.

Mr Nicholls said the key to a long and successful marriage is compromise.

“Give and take is the key to a successful marriage,” he added Mr Nicholls. “When I was younger I was selfish and played a lot of cricket, but when I gave that up at 40 and started bowls, we drew up a contract and agreed how often I could play."

“That has worked out well and it shows how important it is to compromise. I do pretty much everything for Shirley now as she is disabled, but I wouldn’t change a single day of our marriage.”

The couple will celebrate their anniversary with a party at The Farmhouse in Southwick next Saturday (July 18).