IT wasn't your typical romantic first meeting, he stood on her foot and she swore at him.

But James and Margaret Ross got over that inauspicious start and the Blairhall couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary last week with a big party.

They tied the knot at Culross Abbey 60 years ago, on March 31 1956 – although even the wedding day had its share of drama.

James, 80, who grew up on the family farm at Balgownie, recalled: "The day I got married I was sowing barley and I wanted to finish the field off.

"I came down about ten to four and the taxi was already sitting waiting on me while I was in my old working clothes!

"When we got down to Culross Abbey, we didn't have the marriage licence so my brother had to go back and get it while I stood chatting to the minister. That was a good start!"

Margaret, 76, who worked behind the counter at the Co-operative, remembered the first meeting with James in Blairhall in 1954.

She laughed: “The first time I actually met him in my village – he stood on my laces and broke it and I swore at him!”

She explained the secret to a happy, long-lasting marriage: “As I told all my own children and grandchildren, you have to work at it, it doesn't come easy.

“You have to work at your marriage and you have to be willing to give and take. We had our ups and downs, like everybody else, but we've always been there for each other.”

The couple, of South Avenue, had six children, a dozen grandkids and 19 great-grandchildren.

Margaret said there were a lot of happy moments in their lives and added: “We had our kids, went away on holiday with them.

“We had sad times, but there's been an awful lot of good times.

“If you don't work at a marriage, it doesn't go anywhere. It is just like a job really, you've got to work at your job.”