Sarah Stone and Logan Mills thought their rings were lost forever after a swim at Embleton Bay, but Andy Grant and Lorna Rawlings came to the rescue with their metal detectors.
Lost rings discovered at Embleton Bay
Sarah Stone, 36, and Logan Mills, 35, were on the fourth day of a walking holiday in Northumberland, travelling from Craster to Seahouses. After stopping for a picnic and going for a swim at Embleton Bay, Sarah realised she no longer had her engagement and wedding rings. One of the rings had belonged to Logan's great-grandmother.
Logan ran back to Craster in his Crocs to search, and the pair asked in local coffee shops and pubs, but no one had seen the rings. At the Ship Inn in Low Newton-by-the-Sea, a staff member suggested contacting Andy Grant, owner of Piper's Pitch in Craster and a metal detectorist.
Search and rescue operation
Despite a busy day at work, Andy and his partner Lorna Rawlings came to Embleton Bay while it was still light. Andy told ChronicleLive: "I'd just finished work, it had been really, really busy. But there was a chance metal detectors might go along the beach at night time, so I wanted to see if I could find them otherwise they'd be lost forever."
Andy and Lorna mapped out grid squares in the sand and began searching. Within five minutes, the metal detector began beeping. Andy said: "When I found the first one and handed it over, there was deadly silence. They couldn't believe it, I think they didn't want to get their hopes up. When we found that, I knew the second ring had to be close by."
Emotional reunion
Andy then found the second ring, reuniting the couple with both items. Andy added: "I was over the moon for them because his phone call was a bit distressing, because of the heirloom side more than anything."
Sarah, who makes videos for charity, said: "We were just so grateful to them. It was ridiculously kind of them to even try, and the fact he found it straightaway, we were over the moon. We had to resign ourselves to the fact that they were gone but you have that little bit of hope. We wanted to say thank you because we think they're brilliant."
Logan had put the rings in his pocket before the swim, and the couple plan to enjoy the rest of their holiday at Lindisfarne and Berwick-upon-Tweed. Sarah intends to keep the rings firmly on her finger until they return to Oxfordshire. This is not the first time Andy has helped a couple find a lost engagement ring; he did the same in April 2024.
