A Royston couple who had given up hope of being reunited with the wedding ring the husband lost have had it returned – less than a week after the Crow ran an appeal.
Claude Browne, 92, had been running errands in Royston town centre earlier this month at the HSBC bank and Morrisons when the ring – which he first put on 63 years ago when he married wife Rita – slipped off his finger at some point during the trip.
They were very upset and Rita, 86, went back into the bank and the store to see if the gold signet ring with Claude’s initials, CGB, had been handed in – but it had not.
Their daughter Alison Watts told the Crow: “My parents had given up all hope of finding my dad’s wedding ring as mum had already retraced dad’s steps and made enquiries.
“We were all upset about the loss, so I tried to think of the best way to try get it back. My son had recently lost his wallet at university and after having been contacted on Facebook the wallet was returned.
“My mum and dad are not of the Facebook generation, however do read the local newspaper regularly, I thought the best option was to contact the Crow and did so last week.
“We were still not holding out much hope of finding it as it had been so long, so when I received the email saying that the ring had been found I was over the moon and immediately contacted mum and dad.”
“They were absolutely delighted at the news and could hardly believe that it had been found. They hurried to Morrisons to meet the lady who had the ring.”
Morrisons checkout manager Kathy Land was handed the ring by a colleague who came across it in-store on September 7 – the day after it was lost and Rita checked with staff – and she logged it in lost and found.
“It wasn’t until last week I was sat at home reading the paper, and I saw the article about the couple who lost a ring.
“And this ring stuck with me because when we logged it, we were trying to work out what initials were engraved on it.
“So I went into work the next day, and saw it was definitely was the ring, I was so pleased. It was great to be able to personally return it to the couple.”
Alison added: “They are so grateful to Kathy and can’t thank her enough now dad now has his ring back safely.
“Having lived in the town for many years mum and dad know how kind the people of Royston can be, as this story demonstrates.
“I would also like to express my thanks to the Crow for taking an interest in this story, with such a fantastic outcome. The ring is very old and of such sentimental value – it was irreplaceable.
“Mum and dad are so grateful and really overjoyed, it has really made their week!”
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