AN AMERICAN woman's efforts to track down the pen-pal of her late grandfather have paid off as she prepares for a trip to the UK to meet his family.

Meade Crane contacted the Free Press in October last year looking for relatives of the late Eric Bird, an architectural correspondent from High Wycombe, who wrote to her architect grandfather Hubert Crane between 1947 and 1959.

Simon Bird, Eric's son from Marlow, spotted the story and was reminded of times when his father would chat about his American pal.

Now after much contact with the Bird family, Ms Crane, who lives in Seattle, has organised a trip to the UK on Sunday, May 27, when she plans to meet up with several members of the Bird family.

Ms Crane discovered more than 450 letters sent by Mr Bird to her grandfather and hopes the visit will enable her to learn more about their close friendship.

"It is a wonderful body of work, deserving to be read by so many, from two like-minded individuals during a time of great change in both countries," she said.

"They talked relatively little about architecture, a lot about politics, family and their experiences during World War."

"It has been very exciting and indeed a bit strange to have found Mr Bird's family at last, alive and well," she added.