Berwick resident meets penfriend from Wisconsin in the USA for the first time since opening letter in 1971

The former Berwick-upon-Tweed Town councillor, who works at Berwick Visitor Centre, first wrote to Sarah Hughes in the USA on March 14, 1971 through the Worldwide Youth Correspondence Section.

She replied and they continued writing letters. Although correspondence was not as frequent when they became adults, they still kept each other informed of major life events.

Then social media came along and Anne managed to track down her penfriend (now Sarah Schenkat, who lives in Wisconsin) through Sarah’s daughter Liz on Facebook.

They started messaging each other regularly and this led to arrangements to include Berwick in a UK trip so the two women could have their first face-to-face meeting.

Anne said: “Sarah often said that when she retired she would like to come and see me and earlier this year she messaged to say that her and Liz would be in Berwick as part of their trip from August 21 to 24.

“During their Berwick visit, they stayed at The Nest on West Street, visited the Town Hall and got to meet Mayor John Robertson, and I took them on a tour of places such as the Ramparts and Pier. We also went to Holy Island.

“They really enjoyed their time here and it was wonderful to see Sarah face-to-face after writing to her all these years. Now I feel that I really know her because speaking to someone in person is different to writing a letter or sending a message.

“Maybe one day I will go to Wisconsin for a return visit.”