Gold medal found on footpath is returned to family 85 years after it was dropped

The 3cm round medal was won by piper Archie MacCalman at the Mull and Iona Highland Games, held at Salen on Mull, in August 1924.

He lost his coveted prize soon after the competition. He dropped the medal near the garage where he worked in Dunollie Road in Oban, Argyll, and finally gave up the search for it. But 85 years later, a walker spotted it "glistening" on top of some disturbed soil on the footpath – right where it was dropped in Dunollie Road.

After some detective work, it has now been reunited with its owner's family.

Oban woman Morag Brown, who discovered the medal, said she thought at first it was just an old coin. But after cleaning it she discovered it was a small pendant engraved with the name A McCahnan (sic) on one side and on the reverse: "Special award, Salen Games 1924".

Mrs Brown took the medal to her local newspaper, the Oban Times, to search the archives. The 23 August, 1924 edition of the local newspaper showed that the medal was presented for piping to an Archie MacCalman as the best "native of Mull and lona" at Salen games. The medal had become buried underneath the public pathway.

Mr MacCalman's son, Alastair, of Oban, confirmed his father was the prize-winning piper.

He said: "In the 1920s my father took up employment in the Western Garage, where he and his brother worked for a number of years. As the garage was on Dunollie Road, where Farmfoods is now, I assume that is when he lost the medal – back in the 1920s.

"My father then went to work for the General Post Office, where he worked for 35 years. He died in 1985 at the age of 82.

"Holding this medal is like touching a piece of history that links me with my father. I am delighted to have it back. I have contacted my brother, who lives in Crete, and told him about the medal."

Mr MacCalman added: "I would like to thank Mrs Brown – what a kind thing to do."