WESTMORLAND Gazette readers have helped reunite a lost SD camera card containing hundreds of treasured photographs with its owners.


An article with a photograph of a woman taken from the card was posted on the Gazette's website at 11.30am last Thursday morning, saying the card had been found and asking if anyone recognised the woman concerned to get in touch.

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Nine hours later Mike and Yvette Burchnall, who live at Mansergh, near Kirkby Lonsdale, contacted the Gazette to say they knew the woman concerned.


"The SD card belongs to Don and Elizabeth Gilkes, who live in Crosby - my wife and I used to work with Don at Sefton Council," Mr Burchnall told the Gazette in an email.
The Gazette contacted Mr and Mrs Gilkes, who had been rung by the Burchnalls and were delighted the SD card had been found.
"I would regard it as fine detective work in a very fast time," said Mr Gilkes, 83, a retired local government officer.
"We were in South Africa in 2013 and the photographs were on the card. Some time ago I noticed the card was missing. We had put it in a camera case, which dangles from a bit of chord and I think it must have fallen out of its compartment."
Mr and Mrs Gilkes are regular visitors to the Lake District and the person who found the card, a National Park Voluntary Ranger on patrol, said he had found it near Brockstones Cottage on the Coffin Route above White Moss common, between Rydal and Grasmere, two years ago.
He said he had posted on a lost and found site aimed at people who had lost personal items while out on mountains and fells but had no response.

* Westmorland Gazette photographer Jon Granger's tip for photographers: People who plan to keep photographs on SD cards might want to consider taking a picture of some basic contact details as the first photograph in case it is lost.