Richard Higham, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 5 of 10

Chris, Wife and family were playing catch in the sea one warm evening in June. Returning to his towell Chris noted his Titanium engraved wedding ring was missing. They had been married many years and enjoyed a fairy tale marriage going back to when they first met as children in Hong Kong, losing contact and then finding each other some 20 years later!  They search the sand and sea desparately for hours until finally succombing to their loss.

Fortunately for them they thought to search the Ring Finders and found me. I came over that very afternoon & after a fruitlesshour search of the sand it was time to hit the water. The sand around sandbanks is extremly soft & I feared it may have well sunk out of reach but nevertheless I thought id take it slowly & carefully.

After only 5 minutes in waist deep water a signal faintly beeped… a little digging.. stronger it became… several scoops… until there it was. Chris & family were very relieved to have the ring back & I was equally as pleased for them. They visited Margret Green Animal Sanctuary with their children & kindly made a donation.

Maxine & Martin from Southbourne shared their sons loss when his prized gold ring slipped from his finger as he threw something into the overgrown hedge alongside a road. He tried for ages searching through the thorny undergrowth to no avail.

Giving up on his extensive search he told his parents of his loss who subsequently called me in for another try. When I first observed the scene it was obvious it was going to be tough. The thick bushes were laden with thorns & strewn with tin foil, ring pulls & years worth of trashy signals. Our first search yielded nothing so I promised to return armed with equipment to beat back the bushes further.

On my second visit Martin & I cut the bushes back even further effectively doubling our search area. After 20 mins, between many dubious other signals came the unmistakable sound of gold! They met their son that evening & were very excited to return him the ring he deemed gone forever. Martin has made a king donation to The Margret Green Animal Sanctuary.

Ed & his wife Julie from Southampton were visiting friends for the day frolicking on Swanage Beach.  Unfortunately it ended in disaster when Ed noticed the ring which he had been wearing for the past ten years disappeared into the soft sand.

When called I was concerned about its recovery due to the close proximity to a small stream cutting through the beach washing items deeper into the sand and for the fact it had been several days since its initial loss.

The search was pretty standard- scanning up and down and mapping out a grid by dragging my scoop. after 15 minutes of search up she come with a bellowing noise through my headset.

Ed &  Julie were very pleased to have the ring back and made a kind donation to the Margret Green Animal Charity.

Ali & husband from London had enjoyed a day on Swanage beach but soon it was going to end. Brushing the sand from her fingers, Ali felt the ring fly off but in which direction??

I met them only an hour after receiving their call & I knew this was going to be a short & sweet recovery. So sure was I, I even let Ali take the CTX herself & ‘have a go’ at finding it.

Sure enough, within 5 mins, not quite where they thought it had gone, the CTX gave the moan of white gold. With one scoop Ali produced the ring & was very relieved to have it back on her finger . They have made a kind donation to the Margret Green Animal Sanctuary.

 

When Leon & girlfriend visited Southbourne from their home in Oxford, they had no idea how their fun filled beach day would tragically end. Swimming in 5 feet of water Leon felt his precious ring slip from his finger into the depths. He tried desperately to locate it but it had gone.

The ring had huge sentimental value to him as it was a gift from his late mother. When Leon called me & explained to me how precious it was we wasted no time & met the next morning at 4:30 am to catch the low tide. Unfortunately the search and the next couple of two hours searches proved nothing. Large swells, shifting sands & continuing uncertainty of its location seemed to erase all hope of it ever being recovered.

On my fourth search, entering 4 feet of water I looked to the skies & pleaded for help…… 30 seconds later… a signal. Taking a huge scoop from the sea bed I checked the hole I’d dug, the signal was gone. Sifting the sand from the scoop, heart pounding, there it was. It matched every detail of its description given.

Leon was very moved to have got the ring back. Its always a pleasure doing recoveries & Leons reaction to seeing the ring recovered epitomizes why I use all of my resources … although sometimes ‘a little help from above’ never goes amiss. Leon has made a kind donation to the Margret Green Animal Sanctuary.

Removing 6 precious rings from her fingers & placing them into a hat for safe keeping, Karen from Poole thought they were safe. With her husband they were visiting the famous New Forest Show but Karen decided to remove her rings to clean her hands. Placing the ring into a hat then putting the hat on, forgetting they were there caused the rings to be tossed over a wide area.

I received a desperate phone call from them but absolutely stuck at work & couldn’t attend. They had recovered 5 but the 6th, her great grandmothers, was still missing. I happen to have my CTX detector in my car & decided the best option was for their family friend, Rob to collect the detector & try it himself.

After half an hour, camouflaged in the dry grass there it was, the distinctive sound of gold.

Karen was elated to get the ring back & will make a kind donation to the Margret Green Animal Rescue. Im glad that I could be of some assistance to them.

David from Oxford was enjoying a weekend stag do in Bournemouth with his friends. Whilst skinny dipping he managed to feel & see his wedding ring slip from his fingers and disappear into the depths of the sea about waist height.

About three days after losing it he contacted me and I made my way there right away knowing how soft and absorbing the sands are around there.

After searching for an hour and a half in 4 feet of water up it came. I phoned a very relieved David  who promised that once he received the ring he would gladly make a donation to the Margret Green Animal Charity. He also promised a picture of him and the ring looking very happy upon its return to him. 

David & wife Jean visited Studland Bay one beautiful afternoon to enjoy a relaxing walk. Unfortunately all did not end well. Carrying chairs & bags some 200 meters & having a bite to eat David suddenly noticed his late fathers wedding band missing. When David called me a week later to explain it seemed as though the search area would be far to large to deal with. However after some careful questioning I deduced there were a couple of ‘likely’ areas to search.

The first search area was where they ate. People wipe their hands clean-rings fall off. But it was what David did next, he cleaned his sticky hands in the sea. Within 10 minutes of searching the CTX screamed its head off & laying 6cm under was the ring.

David & Jean were so relieved to be reunited with the ring that not only did they make a kind donation to the Margret Green Animal Rescue but they actually put their names down for a dog adoption.