Richard Higham, Author at The Ring Finders

Gold & Diamond Ring Lost & Found Poole Harbour

  • from Bournemouth (England, United Kingdom)
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Sarahs mother in law recently lost TWO precious gold diamond rings on a beach in Poole Harbour. They manage to recover one by hand but the other still eluded them.

I came over that evening fearing other detectorists might beach comb & come across it. Luckily after 5 minutes of searching up popped the ring. She was very pleased to have it back & kindly made a donation to the Margaret Green Animal Rescue Charity.

Sentimental Gold Ring Lost & Found On Studland Beach

  • from Bournemouth (England, United Kingdom)
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Alicia & fiance visited Studland Beach recently almost ruining their day when Alicia dropped her family ring from her pocket. They searched in vane for ages before I was finally contacted.

I met them on the beach & although they had searched the particular area the ring soon appeared.

They were extremely releived to get the ring recovered & made a kind donation to the Margaret Green Animal Charity.

Mens Palladium Ring Lost & Found Studland Beach

  • from Bournemouth (England, United Kingdom)
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Back in August Kevin from Poole visited Studland with his family to do a little SUP’ing. Trouble was he kept falling off and worst still, when he reached the shore realised his wedding ring had gone! He had covered a wide area and could tell for sure where he had lost it.

I visited the area on 3 occasions , at least two hours each time to no avail. My search area expanded on every visit. Probably on my eighth hour there, a long way from my original search area, the CTX gave a blaring tone of something big and up it came!

Kevin was elated to have it back and made a kind donation to the Margaret Green Animal Rescue. Because of the sensitive nature of Simons job we decided a personal picture would not be appropriate.

Gents ROLEX Watch Lost & Found in the sea in Southbourne.

  • from Bournemouth (England, United Kingdom)
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Simon from Bournemouth went for his usual swim in the sea in Southbourne & when tumbled by a large wave felt his Rolex fall from his wrist. You can imagine his desperation looking for it as the waves pounded him until finally he admitted defeat and left.

When I received the call I was optimistic even though the sands were soft there and we didn’t have a precise location. Another problem was the tides. They wasn’t due for another two weeks which also reduced the recovery odds. Simon was very eager to try & when we met the day of the search he was very disappointed we didn’t find it.

I decided to let him borrow all of my equipment- something I had done before in the past with people I felt I could trust. Full credit to him, out he went several times searching until early one morning a massive signal, one scoop.. and up it came! Simon was ecstatic to have recovered it and made a generous donation to the Margaret Green Animal Charity.

Gold Wedding Ring Lost & Found Boscombe Pier

  • from Bournemouth (England, United Kingdom)
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Back in August Rowlins and family enjoyed a day out from their home in London. Little did he know he was about to see his wedding ring slip from his finger into the sea near Boscombe Pier. He searched desperately for ages hoping to catch a glimpse but to no avail.

When I received his call the ring had already been missing a few days and with low tides not due another 3 weeks I was less than optimistic to say the least! Nevertheless, three weeks later, just around dawn I ventured to the area and began searching. Using the Whites PI Plus machine I listened for faint whispers knowing how deep in the soft sand it would have sunk. I found six rings that way including Rowlins wedding band- such a thrill to see your target laying in the bottom of your sand scoop!

I called Rowlins who pleased and shocked at our luck and sent him the ring by post. He thanked me later and made a generous donation to the Margaret Green Animal Charity.

Gents Gold Wedding Band Lost & Found On Swanage Beach

  • from Bournemouth (England, United Kingdom)
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Ian from Watford was enjoying a holiday swim in the sea during a spell of beautiful weather in Swanage. To his horror he felt the moment his wedding ring slip from his finger & fell to the sea floor. At first he could just make out the ring lying on the bottom but within seconds it disappeared.

Confident that I would recover it I set about searching the area but after 20 minutes still nothing! Expanding my search area out & under 3 feet of water the detector let out the distinctive scream of gold! Bare a centimetre under the sand the ring  was clearly visible.

Ian was quite taken back that we had recovered it & made a kind donation to the Margaret Green Animal Sanctuary.

Pretty Gold Locket Lost & Found In Worth Matravers

  • from Bournemouth (England, United Kingdom)
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Sam & partner Danny from London were enjoying a little time away in a cottage in Worth Matravers. One afternoon whist going for a walk she felt the chain from her neck fall along with a ring which went through it too! The chain & ring were quickly found but the small gold locket was nowhere to be seen.

After they & others desperately searched for it they finally gave up losing the ring somewhere deep inside the long grass. Sam called me two days later & I arrived immediately as they were leaving the next day for home.

After searching for ten minutes with spurious signals & the light fading the sound of gold rang . Deep down in a clump of grass- there it was! Sam & Danni were very pleased to have it recovered & have promised to make a donation to the Margaret Green Animal Charity upon their return to London.

Mens Gold Wedding Band Lost & Found in The Sea At Highcliffe, Dorset

  • from Bournemouth (England, United Kingdom)
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Tony & son from Hampshire were leisurely swimming in the sea at Highcliffe but unknown by Tony his wedding ring which he’d be wearing for 41 years had slipped from his finger! It wasn’t until returning to his car he realised making its possibly whereabouts more difficult. Upon reaching the beach with Tony I was not hopeful. The stoney beach often draws rings down & out of reach for most detectors but this was far less a daunting task than perhaps detecting the sea where it most probably lay. After 40 minutes detecting the beach the sea was our last chance.

With a steep stoney drop into the sea and a sea bed moving under my feet the search seemed almost pointless. The waves were piling down right where I searched giving false signals & constantly moving the bed. Suddenly a faint signal.. carefully I tried to remain over the spot & donned my goggles. With an almost clumsy scoop I collected a pile of stones from 4 feet of water & made my way to shore thinking it would be a aluminium fragment?

With Tony watching I caught a glimpse of his disbelieving eyes as from where the stones were spread  I removed the ring! This I feel was one of the luckiest recoveries I have ever made & thank my lucky stars. Tony was very grateful & still slightly amazed to have the ring back & has made a generous donation to the Margret Green Animal Rescue charity. 

Gold Wedding Band Lost & Found Shell Bay, Studland

  • from Bournemouth (England, United Kingdom)
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Nathan, wife, children & their friends travelled many miles from Yorkshire to enjoy a week away. One day whilst visiting the shallow clear waters of Shell Bay Nathan took his paddle board off for a little venture, fell off & only later returning to his car discovered his ring was missing!

The ring was steeped with history belonging to his great grandfather in 1915 having seen 2 world wars. Its loss would be obvious to anyone. The search area was huge- potentially 6 tennis court size areas but with spring tides due I was hopeful we would have clear mud flats in which to detect. They had searched in vain using just their eyes but proved fruitless hampered by many seashells resembling little rings too!

The first attempt  one evening took 2 hours & yielded nothing bar 1940’s pennies & lead weights. However, I knew that by the mornings low tide even more area near where he fell would be exposed.  The next morning, with the lower tide as I expected, about 15 meters from where we thought it was there it lay! Visibly & almost defiantly proud of the mud it shone! I posted the ring back to Nathan the next day as they had already returned home. He was amazed to have it back & made a generous donation to the Margret Green Animal Rescue.

Beautiful Gold Diamond Ring Lost & Found On Sandbanks Beach

  • from Bournemouth (England, United Kingdom)
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Louise from Devon enjoyed a bite of luxury staying at the Haven Hotel, Sandbanks with her friend one weekend in June. It was the first time she had been away for years since losing her husband of 58 years & caring for him in his last seven. She doted on the ring he had given her all those years ago & was devastated to see it slip from her finger whilst swimming in the sea. Neck deep in water she could see it before it finally succumbed to the shifting sand, depth & waves.

Still upset it took 10 days for her to break the sad news to her daughter who took a chance to look for a potential miracle. When I received her call it was already 2 weeks since losing it in a notorious area of soft sand. Unsure of her exact position, difficult water depths to work in &  listening for the faintest signal made it seem a futile search. It was time to switch machines to the Whites Surf Master PI & patiently await a low tide..

During the following 2 weeks I spent 2 hours a time over five visits, digging over 100 holes. On my 11th hour, much closer to the shore the Surf Master gave a ‘Ghost Signal’. As usual I thought “another nail or bottle cap”. The signal grew stronger, passing 12 inches down a positive bleep and the from the blackened sand I caught a glimpse of gold! “A gold beer cap” I thought? Hurriedly I scooped again tossing the black dirty sand on to the shore. Proudly sitting on top in alls its crowning glory- there it was! I’m often asked ‘what’s the feeling like to recover something’? In this case utter relief, both physically & mentally.

I called Louise’s daughter Sarah to break the good news. So happy were they that the next day they drove an 8 hour round trip to collect it. I’m happy with every recovery I make but this one touched me more because of the sentiments the ring held. Later I was moved further when I learnt that Louise & Sarah had made a donation to the Margaret Green Animal Rescue beyond my furthest imagination.