Lost near Bridgnorth: Can you help to find Fred Dibnah's golden spanner?
The widow of the late steam engineer and TV presenter Fred Dibnah today made an emotional appeal for a decorative two foot gold-painted spanner to be returned after she left it behind at a function in Shropshire.
Sheila Dibnah believes she left the spanner on a grass verge outside Worfield Golf Club near Bridgnorth while she was packing up her car after speaking at a function.
She only realised what had happened days later – but no-one at the club has seen the spanner since.
It was used as a table decoration at the couple's wedding in Bolton in 1998 and Mrs Dibnah says it is irreplaceable.
It originally belonged to her Bolton-born husband, who was famed for his numerous TV series on the country's industrial heritage and died in 2004.
And she now takes it to venues across the country when she tours with her talk, called Life With Steeplejack Fred.
Mrs Dibnah, 55, was speaking at the Bridgnorth Ladies' Luncheon group on February 28 and left the golf club at about 3.30pm. But while she was loading up her car, she was distracted and believes she may have left it on the ground.
Now she is appealing for anyone with information to contact her and help her track it down – and is offering a £50 reward for its safe return.
She said: "I'm desperate. I just hope someone can help me. I've always had a thing about spanners since I was a little girl so we decorated all the tables with them, and this 2ft spanner was on our table. Fred had had it for years and he painted it gold specially.
"We had a shared interest in industry and engineering, especially as I grew up in the industrial north of England.
"My dad used to take me to scrapyards and I used to play with spanners instead of dolls. I used to call them 'sturtumps'.
"This spanner is very significant to me and I thought it was a good way to explain our relationship so I always take it to my talks." Mrs Dibnah said the spanner is a reminder of their time together and she feels "lost" without it.
She added: "It's no use to anybody else. Someone must have seen it on the ground and thought it looked interesting, without knowing what it was."
* Have you come across Fred's golden spanner? Call (01952) 241412 or email newsdesk@shropshirestar.co.uk
