TWO Land Army friends met again for the first time in 60 years thanks to the Bucks Free Press.

Evelyn Cowan travelled to Winslow Field, Great Missenden, to visit her long-lost friend Vi Bryan on Tuesday, along with her daughter Linda Davidson, who brought them together with a surprise trip to Penn Street Farm for her mother.

Mrs Bryan, 83, saw her old friend Evelyn in the Free Press visiting the farm where they had both worked during the Second World War.

When she saw the picture of her friend she had lost touch with 60 years earlier she called the Free Press to get back in touch.

Mrs Bryan said: 'We had a lovely time, we spoke about everything. It's amazing how we both remembered things about Bucks. She even remembered about old Rackstraw's Bike Shop that was in Hazlemere.

'We sat down for the whole afternoon just talking and it was wonderful. It was funny because before I saw the article I'd only said to my sister the previous week that I wished I had Evelyn's address and that there was no way of getting hold of it now.'

Mrs Cowan, 75, decided to do her bit for the war effort in 1941 by joining the Land Army and was posted to Penn Street Farm where a young Mrs Bryan showed her the ropes of farm chores.

Mrs Cowan, who now lives near Brighton, said: 'She taught me to milk the cows. I was frightened, you see, because I had never been near cows.'

Mrs Bryan, who was a country girl in her early 20s, and Mrs Cowan, then about 20 and a townie, worked together at the farm for more than a year.

Mrs Bryan added: 'It made us both feel younger again. We are definitely going to stay in touch now.'