GOING out to lunch together and talking problems through is the key to a successful marriage that has endured for 60 years.
Marina and Peter Anderson, who are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary, first laid eyes on each other across the crowded dance floor of a jive concert in Custom House, east London, in the 1950s.
"When I was 14 or 15 years old, there was a crowd of girls and boys and the rock and roll scene had started coming out – I was a jiver myself," said Marina, 79.
"I met him just as a friend and he used to come and watch me play netball at school. He was a lighterman on the river barges off-loading and reloading cargo.
"I think he just asked me out once – we went to the cinema and it started from there. People kept talking about this Peter Anderson guy. All the girls went for him but I still won," added Marina with a smile.
They married on April 17, 1954, in Custom House when Peter was just 21 and Marina 19.
They have lived a happy life together, first in Forest Gate, moving around London, before ending up in Hornchurch and later moving to Weymouth Road, Springfield, Chelmsford, in November last year.
"I was nervous and excited," said Marina about her wedding day and the wedding reception lasted three days.
"We lived in a pre-fab flat when we moved to Forest Gate so we had it in there," she added.
"It was magical, I got a warm glow inside."
While Peter moved from the barges to become a dock worker, Marina tried her hand at lots of things, including packing sugar, being a machinist at a clothes factory, working in an office and being a freelance bookkeeper.
"I also worked for a shipping company that did the radios in a clerical role," said Marina.
But while the pair were happily in love, they were not joined at the hip. "I was into running, it was athletic and Peter was an amateur boxer," said Marina, who fell pregnant at the age of 25 and went on to have Jenny, now aged 54, and Jason, 48, now in Canada.
When asked about the highlight of the past 60 years, she said: "When I had the children they were everything to us. We travelled to Paris and Jersey and Germany and Luxembourg."
And after the pair moved from Hornchurch to Chelmsford to be closer to family, they say they are already enjoying their time here.
"I love it in Chelmsford, it's better than Hornchurch," she said. "It's much quieter here and I like it when I can get into town to do shopping. We go out at lunchtime. He likes to potter about, he has the shed and greenhouse and gardening. I do knitting and the computer, chatting to family."
While the East Londoners have, like all couples, had their ups and downs, their bond is still strong after all these years.
"The spark and the memories are coming back now. I'm happy and content. I still get these butterflies and emotion every now and again, even now – it's great," said Marina.
"I feel happy and content. We've had a wonderful day, we've got plants and flowers from Canada."
And could she spend another 60 years with her 81-year-old husband? Her simple response: "I should be so lucky."
