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METAL detectorist Andrew Scott unearthed this medal the other day which reads “Bonar Law Fair Trade, 5 NOV 1908.”

His detective work reveals that Andrew Bonar Law, who was to become leader of the Conservative Party and, briefly, Prime Minister, was in Sheffield that day to speak on the issue.

He was a great believer in lifting the barriers to trade within the Empire and foreign countries instead of the protectionism espoused by Joseph Chamberlain.

Andrew says: “The medal was made in Sheffield by Walker & Hall.

“Do readers know how many were made or who was presented with one?”

Flood of interest in Abe’s Legacy

THE Sheffield Flood may have given many people a soaking but it’s had a silver lining for local author Marjorie Dunn, if you’ll allow the Diary to mix metaphors.

She has seized the opportunity to reprint her best-seller Abe’s Legacy, the ‘prequel’ to her recent novel, Call of the Lapwing.

She says: “Legacy is partly about the flood of March 11, 1864, and the floods this summer have revived interest in the Victorian disaster. It seemed a shame to keep turning readers away when there was a call for copies.”

Legacy is available from Sheffield Scene on Surrey Street at 7.95 or from the author at 4 Alford Close, Brampton, Chesterfield S40 1YP.