We've been transatlantic pen pals for 70 years and are now more like sisters

Share Save Add as preferred on Google Catherine Lyst BBC Scotland Kathleen Wilson Kathleen (left) and Shirley have built a strong friendship over the past 70 years Two women who became transatlantic pen pals when they were in the Brownies say they now feel "more like family", having written to each other regularly for 70 years.

Kathleen Bonthron (now Wilson) from Drumchapel in Glasgow was 10 when her group leader gave her the Wisconsin address for 11-year-old Shirley Hedtke (now Yaeger) in 1956.

The pair - now 80 and 81 - began writing to each other and soon built up a rapport, with regular letters going back and forth between Scotland and the United States.

The girls kept in touch throughout their childhood, then their teenage years, and as they settled down and had families - and are still in contact now they are pensioners.