Pensioner reunited with wedding ring 33 years after she lost it under a hedge at her former home

Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:15 PM on 21st July 2009

Anthea Capewell had long ago given up hope of finding her wedding ring after losing it under a hedge 33 years ago.

The 60-year-old's wedding and engagement rings both flew off her finger as she swung shut her garden gate in 1976.

Despite conducting a thorough search involving a metal detector, Mrs Capewell and her husband David only managed to locate the engagement ring.

The couple moved out of the house in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, eight years later.

So Mrs Capewell was astonished to receive a call from her former neighbour to say the ring had been found buried in some garden weeds.

Long time coming: Don Rigby points to the spot where his wife found the wedding ring that former neighbour Anthea Capewell lost in 1976

'I was absolutely gobsmacked and, of course, I was ecstatic,' she said. 'I just couldn't believe it.'

The former shop assistant have kept in touch with neighbours Don and Carol Rigby - who lived on the other side of the hedge - in the 25 years since they moved four miles away.

It was Mrs Rigby who dug up the ring while gardening - prompting a jubilant call to the Capewells' current home in nearby Bilborough.

Mrs Capewell said: 'Carol phoned and said she had some news for me. She told me I had better sit down. I didn't know what to do expect.

                                                          

Together again: An overjoyed Anthea and David Capewell pose with the ring and a photo taken on their wedding day in 1969

'Then she explained she had been collecting the clippings after cutting the hedge and had decided to do a bit of weeding underneath.

'She pulled up a dandelion and noticed a piece of metal come up with it - and as soon as she shook the soil off she realised what it was.

'It must have worked its way down into the soil after we missed it all those years ago. It came up like new with just a bit of soap water.'

'When I used to walk through our garden gate I was in the habit of flinging my hand behind me to shut it,' recalled Mrs Capewell.

'That day, as I did it, I felt my rings go - not just my wedding ring but my engagement ring, too. They just slipped off and flew through the air.

'I was sure they had gone into the hedge. We looked for weeks and even used a metal detector, but we just couldn't find them.'

Mrs Capewell's husband David, now 62, finally stumbled across the engagement ring later that year while he was laying a new driveway but the wedding band had remained elusive.

Inspired by the extraordinary find, the Capewells are now set to renew their wedding vows next year.

The couple, who have three children and 11 grandchildren, married in 1969 and only recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.

Mrs Capewell said: 'I was devastated all those years ago. I didn't have a ring for quite a while, because we thought they would turn up.

'David bought me a new wedding ring after we gave up the search, but now I'll always wear the original. I kiss it every single morning.'

Mr Capewell added: 'We assumed it was lost forever until Carol called. I thought we had won the lottery when I heard Anthea's reaction.

'She was overjoyed, and you could have knocked me down with a feather. I couldn't believe it how well preserved it was. It's amazing.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1201197/Pensioner-reunited-wedding-ring-33-years-lost-hedge-home.html#ixzz0LxFe02Os