St Bees great-grandmother, 87, reunited with lost wedding ring

An 87-year-old widow has been reunited with her missing wedding ring two years after it disappeared in her garden.

Ursula Rowlands, from St Bees, Cumbria, lost it while tending to her flowers, and after a frantic search had given up hope of seeing it again.

But a local historian and his grandson searching with a metal detector in her garden managed to find it.

Her daughter Debbie Bowler said her mum was so thrilled to see it again she put it "straight on her finger".

"Mum couldn't believe it and is so grateful," Mrs Bowler said.

"She started wearing her own mother's wedding ring because she couldn't bear having a bare finger, and now she has been able to put her own back on."

Ms Bowler said the ring had had "a charmed life" and had been damaged going through a mangle, but it was not expensive jewellery that caught her mother's eye.

Her mother and late father, Michael - who married in April 1953 - bought it at a jeweller's in Bowness.

"The chap brought out this little tin and my mum said, 'That's the one I want', and he said, 'That's not a wedding ring, it's a keeper'.

"Apparently a keeper was a cheaper version of a gold band that held your engagement ring on until you had your wedding ring.

"She fell in love with it though, even though it was old then."

The couple had been married for 53 years when Mr Rowlands died in 2006.

Because the great-grandmother lives near to the priory, local historian Chris Robson and his grandson asked to search for coins in her garden, and they were asked if they could take a look for the ring.

"All of a sudden I saw him stand up and he walked into the kitchen, held his hand out and there it was - it was in perfect condition," Ms Bowler said.

"Mum was absolutely thrilled and she just put it straight on her finger, she didn't wash it or anything.

"Every time I go in I just say to her, 'Have you still got it?', and she holds up her hand with a big, beaming smile."

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