Man who thought he lost his wedding ring on a train 20 years ago is reunited with the band after a metal detectorist discovered it in a field next to his former home

• John Hewitson, 76, realised he had lost his wedding ring when he got off a train
• Some 20 years later his old neighbour emailed out of the blue asking about it
• Metal detectorist Tyrone Holman, 50, found it in a field in Occold, Suffolk 

A pensioner who thought he lost his wedding ring on a train 20 years ago was ‘chuffed to bits’ when it was found in a field by a metal detectorist.

John Hewitson, 76, was convinced he left the gold ring his wife Christiane gave him on their wedding day in 1967 in the toilet cubicle of the train he took between London’s Liverpool Street and Diss, Norfolk, in 2000.

But Tyrone Holman, 50, found it nine days ago underneath four inches of soil around half-a-mile from Hewitson’s old home in Occold, Suffolk. 

John Hewitson, 76, was convinced he left the gold ring his wife Christiane gave him on their wedding day in 1967 (pictured) on the train he took between London and Norfolk

The band was only inscribed with the words ‘With love Christiane’ and the date ‘9/9/1967’ 

Mr Holman, who had recently spent £879 on his Minelab Equinox detector, had no idea who it belonged to as the band was only inscribed with the words ‘With love Christiane’ and the date ‘9/9/1967’.

He told Brian Hull – who has farmed the field where the ring was found since 1974 – hoping he might know the owner.

Mr Hull and his wife Leslie realised it probably belonged to their old neighbour Mr Hewitson, because they knew his wife spelt her name Christiane.

The couple emailed Mr Hewitson and he confirmed it was the ring given to him by his wife, 72, when they married 52 years ago in Darlington, Durham.

Mr Hewitson quickly realised it must have slipped off his finger and landed in his garden before he went to work on the day it went missing.

Tyrone Holman (pictured), 50, found the wedding ring nine days ago underneath four inches of soil around half-a-mile from Hewitson’s old home in Occold, Suffolk

The ring had been scooped up and spread on Mr Hull’s field on 300-acre Church Farm to make room for a wildlife pond.

He said: ‘I thought it had gone forever. It is a wonderful surprise to get it back after all these years. I had written it off long ago, but suddenly it is back again.’

Mr Hewitson, a retired technical manager for Reuters news agency, had assumed he lost the ring on his daily commute.

He said: ‘I was in the habit of taking off my ring to wash my hands, and then putting it back on.

Mr Hewitson quickly realised it must have slipped off his finger and landed in his garden before he went to work on the day it went missing in 2000 (the couple are pictured recently)

‘One day, I got off the train and I realised it was no longer on my finger, so I assumed that I had taken it off in the train toilet and left it there.

‘It was a bit upsetting because it was the ring my wife had given me on the day we got married in 1967.

‘My wife phoned up the train company, and was told that nobody had handed it in, so I thought that somebody had picked it up and sold it.

‘Then we suddenly got a message from our old neighbour Brian asking if the date of September 9, 1967, meant anything to us.

Mr Holman, who had recently spent £879 on his Minelab Equinox detector (pictured), had no idea who the band belonged to

‘Of course, I realised it was our wedding day and that it must be about my lost ring. He then sent us a picture of the ring with the inscription inside.’

Mr Hewitson now believes that the ring must have slipped off his finger when he was walking around his garden before setting off to catch his train in 2000.

He said: ‘Brian had used his digger to excavate a pond for us in our garden. The ring must have been in the soil which he dug up and spread on his field.’

Mr Holman has now posted the ring to Mr Hewitson by recorded delivery, as he cannot meet him in person due to coronavirus restrictions.

Mr Hewitson said: ‘I got in touch with him by email to thank him and offered him £50 for returning it – but he refused to accept it. I have now asked him to nominate a charity to receive the money.

‘I never got a replacement after losing the ring because my wife said it would not have the same meaning as it was not original. But she had become a bit irritated in the last few years about me having lost it.’

Mrs Hewitson said: ‘It was very upsetting at the time, but we just had to let it go and never did we imagine that we would get it back.’

Mr Holman, from Debenham in Suffollk, has been searching for metal on Mr Hull’s land for ten years.

He said: ‘I thought it was a copper ring because it was so dirty when I found it about 200m from the edge of a field.

‘Then when I got it home, I cleaned it up gently and realised it was a gold wedding ring with the inscription inside.

‘I was delighted to be able to return it to John and Christiane. They were chuffed to bits.’

Mr Holman said his previous most exciting find was a half sovereign dating back to 1902. He has also found musket balls and belt buckles.

Mr Hull’s wife Leslie said: ‘The soil which was dug out from John’s pond was spread on a field around half a mile away. It is a miracle that the ring has now been found and it is brilliant that it is back with its rightful owner

‘Tyrone has been metal detecting around here for years, but has only previously found bits and pieces. He comes over a couple of times a month.’ 

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