Last updated 15:44, Monday, 01 December 2008

TOTAL strangers David Coward and Darren McSweeney walked away as friends from the misty summit of Red Man’s Way nature trail in Barrow after cracking the clues which led to the Evening Mail’s Find a Fortune treasure trove.

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GLITTERING PRIZE: The Evening Mail’s Find a Fortune treasure hunt winner David Coward (left) with Darren McSweeney who will be sharing the £1,000 prize JON GRANGER REF: 0461134

Each man had been searching the area independently.

David was first to the prize.

But, in a magnificent gesture of solidarity with his fellow treasure-hunter, he agreed to share the £1,000.

Back in September, the Mail teamed up with the Furness Building Society to organise the gold-hunting competition.

The building society’s chief executive Rob Cairns agreed to put up the cash.

Meanwhile, here at the Mail, we set about writing a set of clues in the form of a poem.

Each day throughout November, one stanza was published in the paper.

We promised our readers the money would be secreted somewhere in South Cumbria, and, after a scouring a few possible sites, we settled on Red Man’s Way.

The original inspiration came from The Last Resort – a song by the Eagles which was on a car radio as our team went looking for a suitable location.

While the song is a lament for what became of the American Wild West, it contains lyrics which chime with Barrow’s industrial past: She heard about a place, people were smiling, they spoke about the red man’s way and how they loved the land. Wise treasure seekers were counselled to listen to “great birds of prey”.

There were a few red herrings contained in the rhyme and David said he thought the reference to a “village where fox went to ground” referred to Swarthmoor, where George Fox, the Quaker once lived. It was, in fact, a nod to North Scale, where Fox was on the receiving end of a fusillade of stones from the locals.

The village is within sight of the place where the gold was secreted.

The rhyme contained various references to what can be seen from the treasure site.

The land of the white rose was Yorkshire and a forge referred to Forge Close, a road near the bounty’s location. Last Friday, we asked treasure hunters to start from the home of the White Rose. The White Rose is a racing yacht which is being restored in the Dock Museum.

Saturday’s clues pointed straight to the gold. “Fifty-three is holding the key” was a reference to the number of steps leading to the summit path on Red Man’s Way. Ellen Vannin, or the Isle of Man, is away to the west and the treasure was to be found 10 paces east of the seat with the clearest view – the highest bench on the nature trail.

Both Darren and David had independently wandered around the site.

But they needed sight of Saturday’s clue to know precisely where the treasure was secreted.

David, 46, was first to a copy of the Mail, and therefore the £1,000. But in a magnificent show of generosity, he agreed to share the prize with Darren, who had been so close.

“I worked it out last night,” said David on Saturday. “I have been following it from day one and I have been determined. As soon as I read Saturday’s clue, I went straight to it.”

Unemployed archaeologist David, of Ferry Road, Barrow, said he would be celebrating with a few drinks.

McBrides engineering manager Darren, 40, of Longlands Avenue, Barrow, will be spending some of his share on Christmas presents for his children; Jacob, eight, and Kristian, five.