It took bachelor Don Burslam a lifetime to find the right woman with whom to tie the knot.

But when the 64-year-old traditionalist got down on bended knee to pop the question, he had a telephone in his hand and his sweetheart was 200 miles away in Cardiff.

It was the retired sales and marketing man's second attempt to woo the heart of nurse, Heidi Berghammer, 56, his American pen-pal who lived 3,000 miles away in Wisconsin.

A few days earlier Don, of South Edge, Keighley, had proposed in Paris, but Heidi, a widow with three adult children, had been so taken aback, she asked for time to think.

The couple had only just met in the flesh, having for the previous two years corresponded by letter. Don had bought Heidi a brooch which she had lost.

"I was devastated and my feelings about losing what Don had bought me were so strong that when he telephoned the next day, I knew what I would say."

Heidi had been in Wales a few days visiting her mother and the couple arranged to meet for the first time. And what was her first impression? "I liked his height, his looks. He was more dashing than the photograph I had of him," said Heidi.

And what was Don's impression of her? "I thought she was very attractive, I was completely sold on her. And we immediately felt so relaxed in each other's company."

"We had been writing to each other for a long time so we were able to get to know each other at first without the distraction of the physical.

"We were able to discuss each other's interests and philosophy on life - if we had met earlier, the physical element could have got in the way of those things."

The couple were married in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, Heidi's home town, last November and had a honeymoon in the Bahamas.

Heidi started to write to Don after she was supplied his name and address by Transatlantic Pen Friends. Their romance even hit the headlines and was featured on the front page of the Beaver Dam Daily Citizen.

Heidi's two eldest children - Katie, 33, and Dane 31 are pleased for their mum, but 19-year-old Scott is still coming to terms with the marriage.

The couple intend to make their lives in Wisconsin and Don is now awaiting approval to settle in America. But he intends to keep his links with the UK and will spend some time each year in Keighley.

Meanwhile, Heidi is to enjoy getting to know Yorkshire.