Couple’s relief as they find their wedding ring after losing it on the beach

A couple who have been married for more than 50 years have been ‘relieved’ to find a wedding ring after they went missing on a north east beach earlier this year.

Wallace and Mary Stephenson, who have been married for 51 years, thought they would never see Wallace’s wedding ring again when he lost it while collecting his boat on Beadnell beach in Northumberland in August.

But the couple found the gold ring after a metal detector on Beadnell Beach found it buried in the sand and managed to contact Wallace’s family on Facebook to return their ring.

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Gary Buckingham, who leads the County Durham metal detector group and whose stepfather David made the discovery on the beach, told The Northern Echo: “My stepfather has a caravan in Beadnell and he was out with his metal detector passes one evening when he comes across the gold ring in the sand.

Image: ECHO OF THE NORTH

“We knew we had to try and reunite it with its owner, so I posted it on Facebook to see if we could find out who it belonged to.

“Several people contacted me, but Wallace’s family described exactly how it was and sent a photo. You can tell when it’s definitely the right person’s ring. He was so relieved to have it back.

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The County Durham Metal Detectorist group organize detection events to raise money for the Great North Air Ambulance and managed to raise over £5,000 for the charity last year.

They hope to raise more than £6,000 this year and were helped by a donation from Wallace and his wife Mary to show their appreciation after finding the ring. They are also currently looking for landowners to host their events to enable them to raise more funds.

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