THEIR journeys took them to all corners of the UK but after 47 years a group of former best friends from Blackwood held their first reunion since leaving school.

Carolyn Parsons, 62, Olwyn Bilson, 61, Janice Fourset, 62, and Vicky Shires, 62, left Blackwood Secondary School as inseparable teenage girls in 1971, but found themselves split by jobs, families and travel until reuniting as mature women at the Celtic Manor.

Mrs Parsons, says it was as if time had been turned on its head: "We had such a laugh, it was so much fun and we all got on so well together.

"It was just like when we were back at school," she said.

Although Mrs Parsons has remained in Blackwood throughout her life and Vick Shires has returned from England to Cefn Fforest, the other two girls were still living away from Gwent.

Olwyn Bilson moved to Wolverhampton where she was Mayoress for the turn of the Millennium and Janice Fourset now lives in Devon following a career in the Royal Air Force and was based in Bridgend.

"We had the most fantastic time, but it wasn't really long enough," said Mrs Parsons.

"We talked about school and how much we loved it all back then. We used to be together all the time but just went our separate ways.

"We are going to get together again and have another meeting. We've all been ringing and emailing each other since."

The reunion came about after Mrs Parsons and Mrs Bilson met at the funeral of Mrs Bilson's mother in Cwmbran in December last year.

Mrs Parsons said they instantly set about organising a reunion .

"We found out we had missed each other and wanted to find out what we'd all been up to."