'I saw her wearing white hot pants and I was sold': Couple to celebrate 50th wedding anniversary on the same Wolverhampton street where they met aged 11

Robert Finch, 71, and Diane, 71, met six decades ago when Robert moved into the same street in Wolverhampton as Diane. Soon after they were  swept up in a love story which has spanned their entire lives - raising two daughters in the process.  

By the time they were 16 Robert was working as an apprentice mechanic and finally plucked up the courage to ask Diane out, which she accepted, so they both whipped to Penn cinema on the back of Rob's pushbike to watch a movie together. 

It was the 'first of many' Diane said, as Rob admitted to being 'sold' the moment he rode past her house and sore her donning a pair of white hot pants, which, given how she was 'hoping to catch his eye' after noticing how 'well mannered he was', seemed to do the trick. 

The couple were soon in a sweeping love affair, going out with each other's families, then married five years later, raised two children, and to this day still live in the same street they first caught each other's eyes sixty years ago. 

The couple live a few doors either side of their parent's former homes, and are still friends with 'the odd few' who also still live on the same street with them. 

The secret to their long-lasting marriage? 'Making a good cup of tea, taking care of each other and not answering back', which Robert has managed not to do for many years. 

Speaking on their life together, Diane, said: "I grew up on this street, I was born here and I noticed a certain gentleman down the road and sort of tried to get his attention, but nothing, and then one day he knocked the door. 

"He was well mannered, always on his bike,  he was always really polite and said hello, even though I was a bit shy."

Robert, added: "I had an old racing bike I kept for years, I couldn't afford anything else, I used to see her each day and it was the time that hot pants came out, she had a pair of them on and some boots and I had to go up and down the road a couple times to see her and that sort of started it. 

"Our first date was at Penn cinema, Diane's father gave us a lift to the Penn and that was the start of it, I wasn't on a very good wage at the time and the money took some getting together I think. I was just a lowly trainee mechanic working in a garage."

That was just the first of many between the pair, going on multiple trips on Robert's motorbike, including a trip to the Clifton in Sedgley and a road-trips 'in the freezing cold' to places further afield. 

But one moment stuck out for Diane which proved to be the 'green flag' she had been waiting for, when Robert left work to get in line to buy a couple of concert tickets to see Cliff Richard, which Diane was desperate to get her hands on but was stuck at work unable to get them. 

Diane, said: "He queued up for me to get the Cliff Richard tickets while I was at work, he actually took time out of his day to go and get me the tickets and it was the first time I was able to watch Cliff, he popped in to see me and said 'I've got your tickets' and that was the moment I realised he really liked me."

The couple continued to date, Robert's parents were more disciplined and stayed at home a lot whereas Diane's parents went out a lot so Robert was constantly out with their family, which he said was 'really different' to his family and they had 'many good nights'. 

But Diane's dad - no matter how much he liked Robert - tapped his watch at 10pm whenever Robert was round and told him to get himself home so Diane could get to bed.

Robert added: "But there were some nights when they would go out and Diane and I would stay him, carefully watched over by her older brother, but we did have some time to just be a couple watching the telly and they were some really great times."

The couple later married, had two children and moved around the Black Country working in different jobs and raising their children, until Diane suffered with a five-year bout of Agoraphobia and was amazed to get back around family which was when they decided to buy a home on the same street they met.

Diane, said: "The five years being poorly were really hard to deal with, I could not leave the house or go shopping and I had to watch all the mums take their kids to school whereas we had to rely on neighbours to take our daughters each morning while Rob worked to make sure we kept our home and all had what we needed.

"I saw a psychologist who finally got me better and Rob and I bought our current home, which was just steps away from where I lived when I was child, and we have lived here ever since. 

"There are still a few others who live here who lived here back in the day, we all keep in touch with each other and take extra care of each other because we remember all being kids running up and down this road decades ago.

"Living on the same street where where I was born and where I met Rob is wonderful, we have so many memories that we are reminded of whenever we step outside."

Robert added: "We've been through everything together and live a good life, we're retired now and spend time with each other, our family and friends and I still can't shake my love for working with my hands so I do carpentry to feed that urge."

The couple finished by sharing the secret to a happy marriage, and some not-so-welcome habits that they've both gotten used to. 

Robert, said: "The trick is to look after each other, to really look after each other and of course I would advise - as I have done myself - all husbands out there not to answer back and to do as your told."

"The one habit she has which I could live without, I suppose, is her putting things away she sees out of place. 

"I can put something down and go to get it later and it's gone. I think if I stayed in the same place for long enough she would put me in a draw as well. But on he bright side, she really takes care of me and she always has."

Diane, added: "You have to really enjoy each other's company, that underlining feeling of love really has to be there, and if it is, you'll have a long marriage like ours. 

"But I could really do with him stopping snoring, that's one habit I could definitely live without. Thankfully though, he does make a lovely cup of tea."