AN Ayrshire charity is trying to solve a mystery after a selection of old and recent family wedding photos were discovered at the bottom of a box of bric-a-brac.

Pictures dating from the 1940s until the present day were found by volunteers at West Kilbride’s North Ayrshire Cancer Care while they were sorting through recent donations.

But workers at the store are worried that whoever owns the pictures did not mean to throw them away and are now trying to trace whoever handed the box in.

Maureen Campbell, volunteer at the West Kilbride store, told the Herald: “Before Christmas there was stuff brought in. It was probably about the start of December but it could have been before then. They weren’t opened until now. 

“We were here sorting through everything when one of the girls was ready to put a box in the bin when I said ‘what’s that?’ That’s when we found about a dozen wedding photos. 

“It looks as if someone has been clearing out a house after a family break-up or someone passing away or going into a home. They’ve found what they thought was just a box of bric-a-brac and not realised these pictures were there in a folder at the bottom.

“The folder is addressed to a Mrs Knox of 8 Knoxville Road, Kilbirnie. The photos have been posted to her. The price is on the back. It’s 11 pounds, 10 shillings.

“They’re somebody’s memories. I know how I feel about my own wedding photos so I can’t imagine someone wanting to throw theirs away. They’re good photos, in excellent condition, and it’s obvious that somebody’s tried to keep them like that.”

Maureen and the volunteers placed one of the photos in the shop window display in the hope that someone might see it and recognise the family.

She said: “The first one is 1946 and then it looks as if it’s their family again in the 60s. They’ve been done by the North Press Agency in Glasgow. We can’t contact them to find out though because they’re long defunct. It goes right up until recently with two modern pictures and what looks to me like a Ruby or a Gold Wedding. It looks like the same couple later, when they’ve got older. If not, it’s definitely the same family.

“We put one in the shop window but there’s no one going to see that in there. It could be someone from Beith or Dalry or anywhere around Ayrshire.”

Recognise the people in the photo?

Contact West Kilbride’s North Ayrshire Cancer Care on 01294 823773.