A COUPLE that visited Scotland on holiday were delighted after kind Scots used the location tracking app What3Words to find their lost wedding ring.
Robert Hardy, 52, lost his silver ring on Irvine Beach in North Ayrshire with his wife Emma Hardy and two children last week.
Luckily daughter Lily, 15, had coincidentally taken a screenshot when they were there from the What3Words app which specified exactly where the family had been sitting.
What3Words is an app used by UK emergency services and gives each square in the world a unique three-word address.
The family, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, launched appeals on Facebook to see if anyone had found the ring.
They then shared the three words from the app with metal detector groups in Scotland.
Architect Robert was delighted when he heard back from a couple, known only as Meg and Graham, who had gone out and located the ring with a metal detector.
Emma, 46, shared her delight on Facebook on Thursday after being reunited with the ring, writing: “The power of social media and kind people.
“Absolutely thrilled to bits that Bob’s wedding ring has been found on the beach in Irvine thanks to some really kind, keen metal detector enthusiasts in the area.
“We used What3Words to give an exact location of where we think it was lost, and it would seem that people with metal detectors love a challenge.
“Omg we’re so happy!”
The post has now collected over 2,000 likes with hundreds of comments from readers who were thrilled by the story.
Valerie Wilkinson said: “That’s brilliant news. They do love a challenge.”
Gibbs Pilfred wrote: “Chuffed to bits for you.”
Lindsey Stawart commented: “That’s bloody amazing.”
Linda Asquith replied: “That’s wonderful news. Yay for detectorists.”
Speaking today (MON) Emma said: “We were having a mini break in Irvine with our two children and dog, visiting several beaches and Culzean Castle.
“Our children always look at What3Words whenever we go somewhere new to be amused by the combination of words. I didn’t know she’d taken a screenshot of the three words.
“We left the beach at around 7pm to go to our hotel and it was only the next morning that my husband noticed his wedding ring had gone.
“We searched high and low but no luck. We went back to the beach to look but nothing.
“On the drive back I flooded FB with posts appealing for help and someone suggested a metal detectorists group might be useful.
“People in this group were very keen to help, wanting to know the location of where we think it was lost.
“In particular, a very helpful couple from the Irvine area offered to go to the beach on Thursday evening after downloading the What3Words app and using my words to navigate them to the exact spot where we were sitting.
“Apparently within one swipe of the metal detector, the ring was found, buried in the sand. They contacted me straight away.
Emma added: “We were 300 miles away at home by this point and asked me to describe the ring.
“They sent me a photo and we knew instantly it was my husband’s.
“We genuinely thought it was lost for good. Thankfully he only went to the beach and the hotel that day.
“I walked the dog around Irvine so we’re thankful he didn’t join me as we’d have been out looking along the river too!”
