British Woman Reunited With Wedding Ring She Lost in Potato Field 50 Years Ago
In the Western Isles, an island in the United Kingdom, Peggy MacSween has been reunited after 50 years with her gold wedding ring. She lost it in a potato field near her house in the 1960s when she was collecting potatoes.
Now, half a century later, fellow islander Donald MacPhee found the ring in that same potato field. He had heard the story and decided to look for the ring himself with his metal detector.
50 years ago, MacSween lost the ring when she collected potatoes in the field. “I shook the sand from my gloves, and the ring fell out with it,” she told the British newspaper The Guardian. “I didn’t know until I got home. Then I went looking a few times, but I couldn’t find him anymore.”
Her husband, John, whom she married in July 1958 and who died a few years ago, bought her another ring while they were on vacation.
I had searched an area of 5,000 square meters and dug 90 holes
Donald MacPhee recently heard the story of the lost ring and spent three days with his metal detector out in Liniclate Machair, the sandy coastal meadow where the potato field was once located. Over the years, the area had become a popular meeting place for young people and was therefore full of drink cans.
“I searched for three days and dug a total of 90 holes,” MacPhee told the British newspaper The Guardian. “The problem is that gold rings make the same noise on the detector as the tabs on drinks cans. Unfortunately, I’ve found a lot of them like that – as well as a lot of other things, like horseshoes.”
It wasn’t an easy task, as it wasn’t until the third day that MacPhee found the gold ring. “I was absolutely stunned,” he says. “I had searched an area of 5,000 square meters. There was a 1 in 100,000 chance, so really a fluke.”
The 86-year-old Peggy MacSween, owner of the ring, could hardly believe it when the man suddenly stood at her door with the ring: “I thought I would never see the ring again, but suddenly there it was.”
