I’ve been reading about lifelong friendships (Letters, 13 March) with some interest, and I think my own experience may be record‑breaking. I’m part of a group of six women who formed a gang in about 1960, while attending Notre Dame high school in Norwich. We kept in touch intermittently after leaving school, then decided to celebrate our 50th birthday year by getting together for lunch in London. Since then, we’ve kept in regular touch and have met up many times: once a year as the whole group, more often in twos or threes as circumstances and distances dictate. We also have a WhatsApp group. We all worked for our living, some experienced marital breakdown and we all have much-loved grandchildren. One of the most remarkable aspects of this friendship is that we get on just as easily with each other as we did when we were at school. Incidentally, husbands or partners are allowed at our gatherings if they feel so inclined. Dr Brigid Purcell Norwich