TWO old work colleagues raised a glass to their shared birthday yesterday, 30 years on from first meeting up to celebrate the occasion.

Darren McCarthy and Bill Casterton first met while working for Farmer’s Boy, a subsidiary of Morrisons where cold meats and pies are produced, at its old base in Young Street.

The two men, aged 53 and 73 respectively, didn’t know each other at work, but met after work in the pub, a tradition they have carried on long after leaving the company.

They first toasted their birthday 30 years ago, and have met up at 12pm every year since to celebrate their birthdays and catch up on each other’s lives. Their birthday reunion is often the only time the two will see each other during the year, but have both turned up for the annual meeting without fail.

This year the pair met up at the Red Lion in Manchester Road, before heading to The Woodman for their annual pool tournament - which Mr Casterton nearly always wins - and on to into Wibsey.

Mr McCarthy, originally from Marshfield but now living in Churwell, Leeds, now works at Prince’s Soft Drinks in Tong Street, Tong, after leaving Farmer’s Boy in 1991, meanwhile Mr Casterton worked at Farmer’s Boy until he retired.

In 2014, the pair held a joint party a few days after their birthdays to celebrate reaching 50 and 70 years old with a live rock band and around 80 guests, but made sure on the day they still met up for a pint.

Mr Casterton, from Bankfoot, said they first decided to hold the annual meetings while they worked together.

He said: “We worked together for about six or seven years, but only realised we had the same birthday after four years.

“I always look forward to meeting up, the weather is usually a bit better than it was this time.

“My two sons think it’s a pretty good achievement and the people we meet when we’re out always say it’s a good thing.”

Mr McCarthy added: “I think we have something unique, I get on so well with Bill I think that’s why it has lasted so long.

“We have always been good friends and even though we didn’t work in the same section would always have a chat when we bumped into each other.

“We used to go around Girlington and have been to loads of pubs but quite a lot have shut down now.

“In our younger days it used to be a bit of a pub crawl, but I think if we tried that now it would be more of a literal crawl!”

The pair usually spend six or seven hours together in the afternoon catching up and reminiscing, before Mr McCarthy’s wife Eileen picks them up and drops Mr Casterton off at home, and while they may not see each other over the next 365 days, you can guarantee that on July 5, 2018 at 12pm, the pair will be propping up the bar at the Red Lion for another celebration.