DIAMOND couple Desmond and Adelaide Jordan quite literally fell into each other s arms as teenagers. The Wheathampstead couple, aged 84 and 82 respectively, celebrated 60 years of marriage last Thursday nearly seven decades on from meeting at the Harrow P

DIAMOND couple Desmond and Adelaide Jordan quite literally fell into each other's arms as teenagers.

The Wheathampstead couple, aged 84 and 82 respectively, celebrated 60 years of marriage last Thursday nearly seven decades on from meeting at the Harrow Press printers in London, where they both worked.

Mrs Jordan slipped on a patch of oil as she ran down the stairs at the age of 14 and Mr Jordan caught her just as she was about to fall into the gas engine.

They tied the knot when they were in their 20s, at the end of the Second World War.

Mr Jordan trained as a radar fitter with the RAF and was sent to India for two years in that role, during which time he volunteered for anything that would enable him to see more of the country.

Meanwhile, his future wife was evacuated from London to Sussex but was so homesick that she returned home where her family were bombed out three times, ending up in Harrow Weald.

The couple, who went on to have two daughters, Anne and Jackie, decided to move to St Albans after their wedding in 1949 and Mr Jordan joined the Eversheds printers in Alma Road where he rose through the ranks from a compositor to an executive director.

He was also the founding member of a building group on the Verulam Estate, which was a popular but hard way to acquire a home in the 50s, and he spent all of his spare time working as a labourer for five years before the family moved into their new house.

The couple then moved to Wheathampstead High Street in the early 90s.

Mrs Jordan, a qualified shorthand typist, has been a full-time mum for most of her life but spent 10 years working with the electrical contractors Giffen in St Albans during the 1970s.

The couple, who have two grandchildren, are keen on travelling and have enjoyed a number of cruises including the QE2 cruise to the Land of the Midnight Sun as well as visiting Ascension Island in the south Atlantic twice to see Anne, who was teaching there.

And their adventures aren't over yet - the couple are planning to move to Dorset with Jackie's family to be nearer to Anne, who has now settled in Devon.

They celebrated their anniversary with some champagne and their close family.