A METAL detectorist has discovered the identity of a woman whose picture was in a locket he dug up – after a man he met at a dig realised she is a member of his family.
Mark Willcox posted pictures of the mystery woman after unearthing the silver locket in a field near The Downs, the road linking Wickwar and Charfield.
The pictures were shared on social media and Gary Stone, who had met Mark at an archaeological dig, got in touch to say he recognised her.
The woman in the picture is Carla Bamonte, who has lived in Canada for the past 15 years but used to live in Bristol – and coincidentally is returning to Britain for a visit soon.
Mark, of Coombe Dingle in Bristol, and his friend Mark Lovell found the locket in an arable field, caked in mud.
He opened it to discover “a wet soggy picture” of a woman wearing a baggy cap, which he initially thought was taken in the 1970s but was actually taken a little over 20 years ago.
Carla’s daughter Sophie, who is 32, cut it out and placed it into her silver locket she was aged around eight or nine, but lost the locket soon afterwards.
‘Surprised and stunned’
Carla said: “We were so surprised and stunned. We knew the picture was me and then I knew that it must have been Sophie who had lost it.
“She remembered losing the pendant some 20 years ago, and she and her brother Bow and cousin Gemma spent hours looking for it in the fields all around.
“The pendant was found in the field next to Sophie’s grandad’s house, with the huge hollow oak tree in it where they often played.”
Sophie and Carla live in Alberta.
Carla said: “She was delighted when I contacted her. It’s such a sweet outcome for Sophie to get the locket back after so many years. And what is lovely is that we are all back in touch with Gary again.”
Mark is delighted to have found the owner and told us that he hadn’t dared remove the photo from the locket to check for a name, as it is very fragile.
Carla used to run a boutique clothing shop in Clifton Village Arcade called Bamonte, and lived at The Paragon in Clifton for 22 years with her children.
She has been living in Edmonton for 15 years but will shortly be in the UK for the first time in many years, and hopes to meet up with Mark to collect the locket.
Mark, who has been “detectoring on and off since age 12”, has three wedding rings this year alone, a man’s chain with two of its three lost charms and – his biggest find to-date – 6,500 Roman coins.