PENSIONER Ronald Winterburn thought he had no family left and had come to rely on his friends.

But yesterday the 82-year-old met up with his sister, Pauline Wright, for the first time in 44 years.

It came after Pauline's daughter-in-law put a plea in the Evening Post for information on him.

Mr Winterburn had lived in Attenborough before losing touch with his sister and moving to Yorkshire with his wife Joan, who sadly died in April this year.

"I felt as if everything had finished," said Mr Winterburn.

"My wife had been so poorly over the past 18 months and she died in April. I found it really difficult.

"I have a really good friend who has helped me, he has been an absolute brick.

"But it's funny to go from having nobody, only friends, to having people that are related to you. Instead of feeling sorry for myself I have people around me now.

"I thought there was only me in the family left.

"It is absolutely wonderful to see Pauline. I recognised her when I saw her, she has the same eyes.

"She has kept photos of people that had gone out of my mind. I have always kept a photograph of her and I have a clock that she gave me 50 years ago which is still working."

Pauline Wright, 76, of Wollaton Vale, said she was shocked to meet her brother again after 44 years.

She said: "I feel overwhelmed. It all happened so strangely and so fast.

"We just drifted apart and we tried a few times to find him.

"He has changed – he is white-haired now, but he is still handsome and he feels very close to me. We had a younger brother who died in 1991 so it means a lot to see Ronald again. We will definitely stay in touch."

The pair got together after Pauline's daughter-in-law Maxine Wright, of Eastwood, put an advert in the Evening Post asking for people to get in touch if they knew Mr Winterburn or his wife Joan. A woman saw the advert referring to Joan, which also gave her maiden name Dovey. The woman recognised the name as that of her friend Vera, who lives in Grantham and is Joan's sister, and got in touch with her so she could contact Mr Winterburn.

Maxine said: "I had briefly sent in an e-mail entering my husband into the Post's Father's Day competition and just asked on the off-chance if I could put in something to track down my mother-in-law's brother.

"I started looking about 10 years ago in the electoral roll in Stapleford as that was the last place Pauline knew he lived. I made calls and just drew a blank.

"We have tried sporadically to find him. It was just by chance that I asked to give it one last go. When I got a phone call saying they had found him I got a tingle all over. I was absolutely shocked. We had tried every other way and this was our last stab to find him."

At the reunion Mr Winterburn also discovered he had new members of his family when he met his great niece and nephew, Joseph, 11 and Jessica, 8. He also has another great nephew and niece, Amy 25 and James, 22.

claire.carter@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk