The Lakes' hidden gems
RT's Laura Rutkowski heads behind the scenes of Lost and Found in the Lakes
BBC / Ty'r Ddraig
- Laura Rutkowski
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While looking out at the glistening, expansive waters of the Lake District, you might think that anything dropped in there would be gone forever, alongside anything misplaced on the picturesque fells in the background.
But Lost and Found in the Lakes, which returns for a second series this week, proves otherwise. In the programme, a team of dedicated scuba divers, freedivers and detectorists (on land) attempt to reunite people with their treasured possessions, whether it’s a ring, a drone, a phone (only the ones in waterproof cases, mind you) or a sentimental heirloom.
RT’s Laura Rutkowski at Ullswater, the Lake District. Laura Rutkowski
RT visited Ullswater to watch one search take place, and later witnessed a reunion from a previous successful one, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. When something can’t be located, the owners are instead gifted with a piece made by a local craftsperson out of objects found by the divers in the lakes — turning trash into treasure. The team also clean up the lakes as they go, disposing of bottles, fishing tackle, scrap metal and disposable vapes.
Helen Skelton, from Carlisle, who now lives near Penrith, is the perfect host for the show. “I love being in the lake, I love being on mountains, but I also like what people would call tat,” she says. “My house is full of stuff where other people are like, ‘What is that?’
“When I was growing up, being outdoorsy and in nature wasn’t cool. My parents farmed, and the farming kids were not the cool kids. Now, people appreciate and understand the benefits of having your feet in the soil, and sustainability. It’s a privilege to have grown up with this as my backdrop.”
Mysteries of the deep
Helen debriefs with the divers after their search in Ullswater. BBC
Helen debriefs with the divers after their search in Ullswater. Renée Goulet, a Canadian who now lives in the Lake District, has been freediving since 2021. The most common thing people lose are phones, but “they’re replaceable”, she says. “The most meaningful finds are the things people never think they’re going to get back. We would do this even if there wasn’t a television show. I’ve already got a list of things that I want to go back and look for again in my free time. If we don’t find something, we don’t forget that — we want to reunite people.”
But there are also items the owners probably don’t want to be reunited with. The team have found drugs, bullets, a machete and hard drives wrapped in plastic, weighed down with rocks.
What lies beneath
The scuba team carry out their search.
The divers’ kit includes a metal detector to search, a mask, a knife to cut through fishing line, and an optional snorkel. But the biggest challenge they come up against is visibility. Scuba diver of 20 years Darren Fine, from Ulverston, says, “If it’s nice and rocky on the bottom and shallow, we have a very good chance of finding something, but most of the time it’s very cold and very dark with a lot of algae and silt.”
Angus Hosking, a self-taught freediver of six years from Coniston, agrees. “Sometimes you’re just searching by touch, trying to find a familiar shape. It’s hard to know when to stop searching. When you come across the item you’re actually searching for, it’s almost disbelief.”
The treasure chest
Helen Skelton. BBC
This is the set where Helen Skelton reunites people with their treasured possessions, or lets them down gently when their item hasn’t been found. The divers’ success rate is about 50/50 on the series.
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“People always feel so embarrassed about getting upset about a piece of jewellery [for example], because they don’t want to seem materialistic,” Skelton says, “but what’s really heartwarming about this show is that it’s a reminder that things aren’t just things — they always represent something. It really taps into the value of sentiment, which is an old-fashioned thing in this day and age.”
Authors
Laura Rutkowski
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