London - When John Hewitson lost his gold wedding ring, he hunted high and low before reluctantly giving up.
But now, an incredible 20 years later, it has been found and the 76-year-old will be reunited with it once more.
The ring was discovered by a metal detectorist in a field half-a-mile from where he used to live with his wife Christiane.
And it was her name which provided the vital clue as it was included in the inscription with the date of their wedding ‘9.9.1967’. Luckily the landowner, their former neighbour Brian Hull, recognised her name and emailed with the news.
On Monday Hewitson said: "I thought it had gone for ever. It is a wonderful surprise to get it back after all these years. I had written it off long ago.
"I never got a replacement because my wife said it would not have the same meaning."
Mrs Hewitson, 72, added: "It was very upsetting but we just had to let it go and never did we imagine we would get it back."
Her husband, a retired technical manager, assumed he lost the ring on his former daily commute into London from their home in Occold, Suffolk. "I got off the train and I realised it was no longer on my finger, so I assumed I had taken it off in the toilet and left it," he said.
"My wife phoned the train company and was told nobody had handed it in so I thought somebody had picked it up and sold it." Now, however, he believes it slipped off while he walked in his garden before heading to work.
At the time, soil was being dug up to create a pond and then spread over a nearby field.
"Brian had used his digger to excavate a pond for us," said Hewitson. "The ring must have been in the soil, which he dug up and spread on his land."
The couple, who have four children and eight grandchildren, moved to Gooderstone, Norfolk, six years ago. Out of the blue, they received an email from Hull asking if the date September 9, 1967, meant anything.
Hewitson said: "I realised it must be about my lost ring. He sent us a picture of the ring with the inscription inside." It read "With love Christiane 9.9.1967".
Tyrone Holman, the detectorist who made the amazing discovery, has posted the ring by recorded delivery as Hewitson cannot collect it due to the coronavirus restrictions.
Holman, 50, of Debenham, Suffolk, turned down an offer of £50 (about R1 100) for finding the ring on the land where he has been allowed to search for ten years.
"I thought it was a copper ring because it was so dirty," he said. "I cleaned it up gently and realised it was a gold ring with the inscription. I was delighted to be able to return it."