THE hunt is on for more buried treasure after an intriguing discovery at the bottom of a garden in Warley.

On June 5, 1982, somebody dug a hole at the bottom of Mark Malyon's garden and planted a pickling jar containing two photographs taken at the village green on Prince Charles and Lady Diana's wedding the year before.

Presumably placed as a time capsule, the grubby jar also contained four commemorative Royal Wedding silver crowns and a dozen decimal half penny coins.

Whoever made the drop where the Malyon family's plot meets a neighbouring farm in Dark Lane also penned a poem leaving strict instructions for the finder.

It reads, in part, "The next two times new coins are made, a sample must be buried," a condition Mr Malyon has agreed to carry out on the day of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June, but it also hints there may be more bounty hidden across the village.

The 34-year-old father of two, who regularly ventures out with his metal detector as a hobby, is used to digging up military relics, but the moment he clasped the jar he thought he'd hit the jackpot.

"I thought I was going to be booking a nice holiday for a moment," he said.

"I took it down to the farmer and showed him. He was really interested that someone had buried something without him knowing about it.

"This year is the Diamond Jubilee so I am going to put some coins, a new riddle and a photo into a little jar and bury it where we found this one."

From the two fading photographs inside the jar, it is not possible to make out the group of revellers enjoying the big day on July 29, 1981, but an accompanying sheet of tracing paper lists their names.

One of these villagers is Eileen Fife, from Beredens Lane, in Great Warley.

She remembers nothing about anyone planning to make the time capsule, but said it was a fantastic day.

She added: "It was all very impromptu. We were all glued to the TV. Then someone rang us up and said, 'Let's go out on the village green and have a drink and some sandwiches,' and so people came along and joined us and it was a lot of fun."

Mr Malyon notified Fiona Agassiz from the Great Warley Conservation Society about the January discovery.

He added: "We are hoping that someone knows something about it and where some of the pots are buried."

If you know anything about this find, contact the news desk on 01245 603408.