Today (Friday) promises to be a golden day for Gordon and Patricia Prime, of Jameston, as they are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

The couple, who live at Merefield, Kiln House Lane, first met back in 1948 through Patricia's sister, who at the time was working at Birmingham Airport, where Gordon was also employed.

On their first date, the couple went roller-skating and after love between them blossomed they were married at Ward End Church, Birmingham, on February 21,1953.

The couple spent their honeymoon in Torquay and set up home together in Streetly, Sutton Coldfield, where Gordon worked for Lucas as a motorcycle tester and Patricia in a drapery shop.

Born and bred in Sutton Coldfield, Gordon has had keen interest in motorcycles since the age of 16 and indeed sold one of his three machines for £70 to pay for their wedding reception, honeymoon and cost of hiring a car.

A member of the Pyramid Motorcycle display team, Gordon and Patricia, who was the team's joint manager, travelled all over the country performing at shows and events and members of the team greeted them with an archway of exhaust pipes when they left the church on their wedding day.

A wartime dispatch rider, seeing action in Normandy and Holland, among other places, Gordon later worked for Dunlop for 27 years as a tyre tester, until his retirement in 1988, when the couple moved to Pembrokeshire.

They had spent many holidays in the area and bought a plot of land in Jameston, where they built their bungalow.

The couple have a daughter, Christine, who lives in St. Florence, and two sons, John, who resides in Kingsbury, near Tamworth in Staffordshire, and Stephen, of Sutton Coldfield.

They also have four grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Vice-president of the Tenby branch of the Royal British Legion, Gordon is also welfare officer and was the branch's standard bearer for 12 years.

He is also chairman of the Pembrokeshire branch of the Normandy Veterans Association, while Patricia, who enjoys gardening, is a member of the Skrinkle Short Mat Bowls Club at Manorbier.

The couple are marking their special anniversary with a party for family and friends.

When asked for their recipe for a happy marriage, both Gordon and Patricia agreed it was 'having the same interests' and tolerance.

"Very often Gordon would turn up late for a date because he had been working on his bike," smiled Patricia.