TWO former pupils at Prince Henrys Grammar School now living on opposite sides of the world have been reunited after 30 years apart thanks to the Evesham Journal.

Dave Drinkwater, of Greenhill, Evesham, had tried to trace old schoolfriend Bob Lloyd since he last saw him in 1973 but had no success.

Then he saw a story in last week's Journal about a Vale couple now living in Kuwait who told their story of what life is like living near a war zone, and realised it was his old schoolfriend.

"It was like a bolt out of the blue," he said. "I didn't recognise the photo in the paper and when I saw the name Bob Lloyd, I didn't think it could possibly be him. But then I saw Prince Henry's and the fact he was aged 58 and I thought, it must be."

Dave said they were in different years at school but their friendship formed when they met at the popular meeting place of the day, the Crown Hotel in Bridge Street, which is now Marilyn's.

Although their tastes differed - Bob enjoyed the arts and Dave's background was engineering - they shared a common sense of humour, which Dave described as "an acquired taste".

They last met when Bob was visiting his mother in Cropthorne, almost 30 years to the month.

Dave said Bob was one for globe-trotting, which made keeping in contact difficult, but he was a little surprised to read he was now living in Kuwait.

"I never imagined him as a modern-day Lawrence of Arabia," he said. "But he's certainly one of life's characters."

Bob moved to Kuwait with his wife Rosemary ten years ago and last week told the Journal about their resilient attitude towards the war in nearby Iraq.

Dave said he would love to visit them over there but he'd rather wait until the troubles have died down a little and will settle for communication via email for now.