Eyeing a golden opportunity
Mark Bell was just seven years old when he fell in love with gold panning, he is now one of the country’s few truly ethical jewellers and has sights set on the Big Apple. Catherine Scott reports.
NO one was more surprised than Mark Bell when he struck gold in the North York Moors. “We were filming with Phil Spencer for his Coast to Coast television series and the production crew were very specific about where they wanted to film,” says Mark. “I thought there is no way we are going to find gold there – the odds were 1,000 to one, but I went down the day before to check it out and in the first pan there it was, Yorkshire gold. Who would have thought there was gold in the North York Moors?”
But before you start a gold rush, Mark is quick to point out that the amount of gold in Yorkshire is quite small, and anyone considering panning for it would first need the permission of the landowner, among other things.
“People have been prosecuted for gold panning without the landowner’s permission,” he adds.
Mark is the owner and founder of Wetherby ethical jewellers Jacqueline and Edward – named after his wife, who runs the business with him, and his late father, who ignited his obsession with gold.
“I was about seven and on holiday with my dad up in Highlands of Scotland, looking at castles and monasteries. We saw this classic old timer, with a Stetson and a big bushy beard and he was panning for gold.
“My dad pulled over the camper van and we ended up spending two weeks there. It was a real Wild West moment.
“My dad got gold fever pretty badly after that and I’d go with him.
“I remember clearly when I found my first piece of gold – it is a feeling that’s very hard to describe, but it never leaves you. When you find your first piece of gold it’s magic, which is why we take people up to Scotland to pan for gold for their own wedding rings.”
It was the start of Mark’s love affair with gold.
“Almost my entire childhood was spent walking up and down rivers gold panning across the UK – I think I was one of the youngest gold panners and we'd spend all our time looking for gold.”