Meltham and Meltham Mills Band were contacted by a lady living in Dalbeattie recently about a medal she had come across in a charity shop whilst visiting family in Surrey - looking at it more closely she could see it had been awarded to an Allen Avison, a member of our band when they became Champions at the Zoological Gardens in Belle View in 1878.

She was saddened to see it in a miscellaneous trinket box, and bought it for 25p!

After searching for the band on the Internet, she was delighted to find the band was still in existence and flourishing and made contact.

Recognising what a proud day it would have been for both the band players and the village and how important the medal was to the band's history, she donated it back to the band. We were amazed and truly grateful to this lady for returning the medal "home".