From Left: Ken, Jenny, Shirley and Harry enjoy a holiday together

Jenny Cross and Shirley Alavoine, both 57, have been best friends for more than 50 years. Jenny. an account handler. is married to Ken, a carpenter, and they live in Clacion, Essex. She has cwo children, Paul. 36. and Leanne. 33. and three grandchildren. Shirley. a financial accountant, from Basildon, Essex, is married to Harry. 60, and they have two children. Stephen. 39, and Jackie, 38. She has six grandchildren.

JENNY SAYS: We met at school aged four and she took me under her wing as I was so shy. We were in the same class until Shirley passed the 11 - Plus and I went to the secondary modem, but as we only lived 10 minutes apart we still saw each Other a lot. We both joined the Girls Brigade so went camping together-We shared expehences in the Brigade band and skipping displays- As teenagers, we got into a few scrapes together— though they're pretty tame by today's standards. Once a ball went on the assembly- hall roof. Shirley went to get it. then fell through the roof. Luckily she wasn't hurt. so we ran off.

In our teens I started seeing a chap called Harry. I was 15 and he was 18. But after a few weeks he saw Shirley and started going out with her instead. I was a bit surprised but not angry with her or Harry — we were never serious about each other. They've been married for 40 years. We all pull each other's leg now that he chose Shirley rather than me! We went to each other's weddings in the Sixties. and after that, while we were bringing up our families, we didn't see each other so much. But Shirley wrote marvellous letters, so we kept in touch.

Shirley has always been the sensible one and was there for me when my first marriage ended. She came to stay and was a real shoulder to cry on. I got over it with her help and we celebrated together when I met and later married Ken in 1987. It's been lovely watching each other's family grow up. We've been to her children's weddings and we both enjoy being grans. When we go down to Shirley's holiday caravan, near us in Clacion, we have a good laugh and it's like being kids again. Our husbands get on well, although Ken might feel a bit left out at times as us three have been friends forever. I can't imagine life without her.

SHIRLEY SAYS We clicked from day one and it's been like that ever since.We've never fallen out. We had a strong bond through things we did together, so it didn't matter that we went to different schools. In many ways, because we weren't living in each other's pockets we had more to talk about. We shared lots of friends and we'd all go to the coffee bars, the pictures or listen to pop records together. Looking back, it was all innocent fun. My children call Shirley 'Auntie' and think it's lovely we've been friends for so long.