A DISCARDED bundle of letters rescued from a recycling bin outside a London church has helped a Minehead man discover the remarkable story of a love affair between his father and a young Jewish woman almost 80 years ago.

Retired teacher Doug Ross knew little of his father Richard's early family life, other than that he had rejected his Jewish faith and became a "militant" atheist and Communist.

But just a few weeks ago he received a package of letters that reveal a relationship between Richard and Ruth Lipson, who later married Laurence Winston and was the mother of fertility expert Professor Lord Robert Winston.

In the early 1930s Richard - who changed his name from Reuben Risner in 1941 when he became a director of his brother's import and export company - was an active member of the Jewish Lads' Brigade.

It was through his association with the youth organisation that he met Ruth, an Orthodox Jew whose father and grandfather were both rabbis.

The couple developed a friendship which deepened over a number of years, and they even enjoyed a brief holiday in North Wales together.

Richard was a frequent visitor to the Lipson household but as he moved further away from his faith, the relationship with Ruth became more difficult and eventually her father ended it.

Doug knew nothing of the relationship until a cousin mentioned it at a family reunion four years ago.

And it was through another cousin that the letters are now in his possession.

Earlier this year, the vicar of a church in Southgate, London, was putting out some rubbish when he spotted a bundle of envelopes in the recycling bin.

"He is a keen stamp collector and his eyes were initially drawn to the stamps because they were from the 1930s," said Doug.

All but one of the letters were written by Richard, with just a single draft of a letter Ruth had penned to him.

They were dated from 1933 to 1935 and, although Doug's father had not yet changed his name by deed poll, he signed himself Ross.

However, just one letter contained his real name, and the vicar's wife, a keen genealogist, was able to trace the Risner descendants.

With the help of the internet, she tracked down some of Doug's relatives, who in turn put her in touch with him.

"It was a huge surprise but a delightful one," said Doug.

"They are intensely personal letters which show a depth of emotion I never knew my father had.

"They appeared to be very much in love - in fact, I think she was the real love of his life."

Richard died in 1966, aged just 61, and Doug's mother, Ellen, died ten years later.

Doug is not sure what his mother knew of the relationship, which happened before his parents met.

But he does recall in 1949, when he was just seven, his mother's unhappiness when his father sent Ruth some flowers.

He believes she imagined some sort of affair but in fact Ruth's husband, whom she had married in 1938, had just died.

Ruth, who later remarried, was a significant public figure in her own right, becoming mayor of Southgate and founding one of Britain's first day centres for elderly people.

She was also heavily involved in Jewish women's organisations, was awarded the MBE in 1996 and died in 2007 at the age of 94.

Doug is now preparing to show the letters to his two grown-up children but is still trying to take in their contents.

"It was an odd feeling to read them - they are so very personal," he said.

"They tell an unexpected story but they are a part of our family history and I am glad to have them."

Photo: Steve Guscott