Precious lost family pendant found by metal detectorists

Richard (left) after the metal detectorists reunited him with his lost pendant

Metal detectorists have reunited a teenager with a precious lost pendant that belonged to his late grandfather.

Richard Wason, 19, and his mum Karen were volunteering at a youth camp at Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire, when the pendant went missing.

After failing to find the necklace, Mrs Wason posted an appeal on Facebook.

Victoria Bridgett and partner, Richard Halliday, from Leicestershire, offered to use their metal detectors to help locate it in the woodland.

The silver St Christopher, which Richard inherited from his grandfather, has little monetary value but Mrs Wason said it was of "immense personal importance".

Karen said she was "so grateful" to Victoria and Richard for finding the pendant

Mrs Wason, 51, from Stoke-on-Trent, and her son had been camping in the grounds of the hall for a couple of weeks.

"My son started wearing my father's precious pendant after he died - it's something I never remember him not wearing," said Mrs Wason.

"He woke up in the morning and it was gone. The kids at the camp helped us search. We even went back with torches and we couldn't find it at all.

"Richard never met his grandfather and the pendant is something I will always remember from my childhood.

"We couldn't leave without it so somebody had the bright idea of going on Facebook and that's how we met Victoria and Richard."

The silver St Christopher pendant belonged to Richard's grandfather

Mrs Bridgett and her partner Dr Halliday, from Market Harborough, saw the appeal on 7 August and arrived to help within a couple of hours.

Luck wasn't on their side at first, with the search turning up only World War Two shells believed to have been left from a former army training site at nearby Arthingworth Hall.

But just as they started to lose hope, the detectorists found the treasure they were hoping for.

Mrs Wason, who works as a teacher, added: "We had been searching for a long time and had started to give up hope.

"We were all prepared to leave and then he found it. My son's mouth just dropped open.

"I asked Richard and Victoria 'How can I reward you?'

"He said: 'Richard's face is enough - go and spend your money on a strong chain!'"

Mrs Bridgett said: "It was a brilliant feeling seeing the boy's face when Richard got the 'ping' on his machine and handed over the boy's St Christopher.

"We have found a lot of things through detecting, but that has got to be the most rewarding thing we have done, just to see how happy he was to get it back. So glad we could help."