In the waste management business, we are often surprised by what comes our way on the processing lines and within our skips. However, it is not every day that you discover a genuine world war one medal!

Penrith resident, Mark Roberts has been reunited with his late great uncle’s war medal after it was found on the floor near one of the scrap metal containers on our site at Rockcliffe, near Carlisle.
Mark was approached by Dean Donald after he researched the family history of the soldier through website Ancestry. Dean, an electrical engineer at North West Recycling, found the medal during a routine inspection at the recycling depot.
When asked how long it took for Dean to hear from Mark, he said: “It took around two weeks. It didn’t take me that long to research as I study my own family history.”
“I was uncertain if it was actually him, but the family trees linked up perfectly, so I got in touch with a Penrith community group on social media and Mark’s wife got back in touch.”
‘We owed it to the family to try and return such an important piece of history’ Dean explained.
The medal was inscribed with the soldier’s name and serial number (Private A. Roberts – 73441). And via ancestry.com our keen detective was able to identify the owner as an Archie Roberts from North Wales.



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