A DIAMOND couple say sharing jokes has kept them happily married for 60 years.

After meeting at a railway station 63 years ago Margaret and Walter Harland celebrated their 60th anniversary yesterday.

Mr Harland’s job in the Royal Air Force took the couple all over the world, before they settled in Ock Street 40 years ago.

Mrs Harland, 78, was 15-year-old Margaret Hirst when she first laid eyes on her husband and had to get her parents’ permission to marry when she was 18.

She explained: “I thought he was rather dishy and I saw the RAF uniform and thought I will have him. It was love at first sight.”

She said the couple’s shared sense of humour was the most important thing in their long and happy marriage.

She added: “People can tell we are together as we finish each others sentences.”

Mr Harland, 82, painted the roundels on planes in the RAF for 22 years. His work took the couple to places like Sri Lanka, the Middle East and Malaysia.

Mrs Harland helped to set up the Abingdon Monday Club for the mentally handicapped 44 years ago and volunteered at the Abingdon Alzheimer’s Club for 14 years.

The couple have four children, six grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Mrs Harland said: “We have had a good life, it has been a bit nomadic but still a good life.”

Daughter Denise Smith, 59, from Apley Way in Witney, said: “They are good fun, fair, young minded and our best friends.”

The family held a party for about 50 family and friends.

Mr Harland is a licensed radio operator and a member of Harwell Radio Club. His wife said learning Morse code and getting the licence was one of his proudest moments.

He has suffered from Alzh-eimer’s for seven years.