Richard Higham, Author at The Ring Finders | Page 8 of 10

Mr & Mrs Garry Glover from Binfield, Berkshire were holidaying on Studland Beach on another beautiful summers day.
Building sand castles with his daughter on the wet sand when Garry returned to his towel he noticed with horror that his wedding band had slipped off. He called the Ring Finders & I was lucky enough to be only half an hour away.
Within 5 minutes the CTX gave an almighty yelp indicating something big! After only one scoop laying at the bottom was his ring.
A very happy Garry was chuffed to bits to get it back and will make a donation very soon.

Joan from Devon was holidaying in Swanage with her daughter and children having a great time at Ocean Bay Swanage.
The weather had been great recently and making the most of it Joan decided to play ball in the sea with the kids. However, trying to catch a ‘curve ball’ it hit her hand and off shot the ring! Joan who had been married for 47 years was obviously very upset as her ring rarely left her finger.
We knew the rough area, waist deep in sea water and level with a distinctive marker post. Detecting a careful grid within 5 minutes the CTX 3030 gave the reassuring hum of gold, a couple of scoops and up it came.
It serves as a reminder that although it could have ended up as a band of £50 scrap

gold these rings serve so much more and I feel very glad to have helped to advert what could have been a very memorable holiday for all the wrong reasons. Jean has promised to make a donation to the Air Ambulance when she returns from her holiday.

Due to problems with my voicemail I was very concerned as I learnt that someone had lost a ring earlier and left me a message. I consulted a random teenager on the beach who looked an Apple genius who very quickly retrieved my messages.
Mrs Susan Hopcraft and family had enjoyed a day on Studland Beach and just for safe keeping Susan had carefully placed her ring in her jeans pocket when she changed. Like some though she forgot she had placed it there so when it was time to slip her jeans back on…. out slipped the ring! We had a small area to search and wouldn’t take long- a small group also gathered eager to see the outcome.
After only five minutes searching but right on the boundary of our search area the distinctive hum of gold sounded and up came the ring.
A very happy and teary Mrs Hopcroft was delighted to see her ring back on her finger and made a very generous donation to the Air Ambulance. It was probably the prettiest ring I have ever recovered for one of the most generous people too! THIS is what it’s all about!

Richard Jeavons & family from Windfrith, Dorset enjoyed a sun drenched day on Studland Beach. Like many people Richard unfortunately managed to lose his wedding ring building sand castles with his daughter.
It was late afternoon before I received their call & time was crucial as soon the beach would be covered with treasure hunters after such a busy day.
The beach was still quite busy when I arrived so it was a little uncomfortable detecting between towels and some stares from disapproving sunbathers- still I was there on ‘business’ so who cares?! I had a pretty good description of the area and after 20 mins the Minelab gave the sweet tones of gold and 6 inches under the sand the ring appeared.
It was kept safely in the safe by the kind people at the National Trust and collected a couple of days later. The Jeavons family were very relieved and grateful and made a kind donation to the Air Ambulance.

Martin Ryan and family had enjoyed a lovely short break camping in Lulworth Cove recently. As Studland was only some half an hours drive away they decided to spend a sun drenched day on the beach.
Martin did remember paddling in ankle deep water, he also remembered walking to the toilets…many areas crossed his mind when later, to his horror he noticed the ring missing!
Like many rings there are out there, this one too was a family heirloom. It had been handed down to him through the older generations. He searched in vein for many hours but the soft white sand of Studland consumes money and jewelry hungrily! He had pretty much given up the ghost of ever finding it even though he had reported it lost to the local office.
After about five days of it being lost he took the initiative to try The Ring Finders.Com. I searched the exact location that same evening using photos he’d sent me of his families day on the beach.I knew the spot very well having spent six hours searching for another ring earlier that week-unsuccessfully. Within ten minutes, laying between shrapnel of ring pulls and foil, up popped the ring much to my delight! To save the family the long drive down from Cheddar I sent the ring post haste by special delivery. Mr Ryan and family were extremely grateful to have the ring back and made a generous donation to the air ambulance.

Day trippers to Swanage, Mr & Mrs Rob Evans had enjoyed the day playing with their children on Swanage Beach. Skinny dipping in the sea, building sand castles and playing catch are the biggest causes, I’ve found, to losing jewelry on the beach.

I had received the phone call from Rob after he had found me on The Ring Finders earlier that day. Unfortunately I was out of town on another ring job and wouldn’t be able to make it until the early evening. We met that evening and I was given a run down of where the family had been so we could assess the search area. Unfortunately there was a possibility it could now be under the advancing tide- not a problem but makes things more difficult!

The beach was unusually high in trash due to the storms turning things up. After about an hour I was beginning to consider ‘plan B’ when I received a strange ‘mixed’ signal from the Minelab CTX3030. I recall receiving it earlier and ignored it thinking it was foil. I even said to Rob as I used the sand scoop « don’t get your hopes up its’s probably trash »! Relieved, though a little embarrassed, there at the bottom of the scoop lay the white gold engraved ring AND a large rusty screw!!

A very grateful Mr Evans contacted the air ambulance and made an extremely generous donation. Thanks Rob!

Sunday. The sun is shining, the tide will be low. I thought it would be a perfect day to head off to make yet another attempt to find a lost watch on Boscombe Beach. As I was getting off the Chain ferry I received a phone call from Leo Fung of Bournemouth.

Leo, his new wife and friends had been enjoying the weather on the beach having been married only 24 hours earlier. Whilst playing with a football, Leo felt the ring slip off and caught a glimpse of its direction. They searched the beach extensively for a while until someone remembered seeing me on the BBC news. A quick Google search on their smartphone revealed my number, a phone call and I arrived within half an hour. Within 30 seconds we found the ring, new shiny and very nearly lost. It was the heaviest white gold ring I think I have ever recovered and I’m very relieved to have recovered it for them.

Mr & Mrs Fung made a kind donation to the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance to which I am most grateful.

After reading an article in the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance magazine of my Ring Finder services; Mr Brian Marchment of Somerset decided to give me a chance to find his wedding band he had lost 3 months earlier.

The drive was long, three hours in fact, accidents, diversions and road closures too!  The location was easy to find, the garden was even easier to navigate. Tidy flower beds, stone walls, gravel paths and many uncomplicated areas that seemed easy to detect.

After speaking with Mr Marchment about the day of his loss and replaying it, we decided where the search was to begin. Within 30 seconds of searching, between the brick path boundaries and grass the detector let off the gold ‘growl’. Laying out of sight, camouflaged by the gravel, lay our ring.  Mr & Mrs Marchment were very pleased having been married decades and made a generous donation to the air ambulance.

Emily from Southampton owned a very special silver ring. It was only silver but one she valued greatly. It had been especially engraved and given to her as a gift from her grandmother. After enjoying a day on the beach she brushed off some sand from her fingers… off slipped the ring! She saw the spot where it sank but her and her friends efforts to try to retreive it only made it sink further. I sympathise with all those who have lost something dear I cant imagine how it must feel to lose something that dear to you.

The location of the lost ring was relatively small – about half the size of a tennis court. The beach was very trashy but nevertheless after one hour I found it. Emily was so pleased to have her ring back and raise money too for the Air Ambulance she held her own Cake Sale at work. Thanks Emily for going out of your way to help.