I got back to a dreich and rainy Glasgow to an Inverness basking in a gorgeous evening sunshine. It’s good to be back.

I had a grand old time catching up with people in amongst my work meetings and dentist’s appointment.

However, going back to Glasgow confirmed to me that I’m really not a huge fan of the place overall (I really noticed the pollution compared to Inverness) but I do love seeing various friends down there.

No more travels for… oh, at least five days.

You may recall, over a year ago, that I found a five pound note with “Sheila Sergenson” written on it, and set out to try and track her down.

Well, as the observant of you might have noticed, I found her. Or rather, she found me, when she commented on one of my blog posts.

Of course, that could have been anyone. But interestingly, some months back I had an email from a woman named Elaine, who was related to some Sergensons and stumbled across my blog when doing some family tree research.

Over a few weeks we exchanged information about Sergensons, and it turns out that she is vaguely related to Sheila Sergenson, was able to track her down, and has now been reconnected to that otherwise lost branch of her family.

So it may have seemed a silly idea, but not only did I find Sheila Sergenson but a long-lost relative found her too.

Nice.

You’re no doubt eagerly anticipating an update on the fiver project.  It turns out that the note my friend Chris picked up wasn’t one of mine after all – just one sporting a signature that looked vaguely like my name. Coupled with the fact that it’s a bit of a hassle photographing and uploading every fiver I get, I’m not sure I can really be bothered with all this and there’s more interesting and useful things I could be doing with my time.

I’d considered just going up to a nice round number like ten and leaving it at that, but I think I will just abandon the mission. I may hear about one of the fivers some day in the future, or who knows, even from Sheila Sergenson herself.

But I doubt it.

Great news! I got a telephone call tonight from someone who found one of my fivers!

I have to say I was wondering whether or not I would ever hear from anyone about the project, and so was delighted to learn that one of them had been picked up.

The finder had been given it as change in the pub this evening, and phoned me up straight away to tell me. They said they would send me a photo of them with the note, and then sign and release the note again themselves to see what happens to it.

And yes, you’re probably wondering how they got my number, because I didn’t publish it on my website. Well, that’s because they had my number anyway.

In one of those freakish small world coincidences, the finder was none other than my joinee friend and fellow pub quiz team member, Chris.

So, let’s get this straight. I find a fiver signed by the still mysterious Sheila Sergenson. I sign it myself, and spend it in a pub. A few weeks later, one of my friends gets it as change in another pub. What are the chances?

More news as soon as Chris sends me the proof, but as I say, I was delighted. So much so that I forgive him for calling right in the middle of Lost.

I’ve pretty much given up on hearing from Sheila Sergenson’s golf club about the £5 note I found with her name written on it.

I’ve thought long and hard about what to do, and although I am convinced the note came into my hands for a reason, I’ve decided that that reason is not so I can become a stalker and be barred from Cumbernauld’s finest golf course.

Instead, I’ve begun to think about what would happen if I signed bank notes and released them into the wild. Would they float around the monetary system until they fall apart and are removed from circulation? Or would someone see my name on one of them, do a google search, and drop me an email to say where they found it?

I certainly hope it would be the latter – and it would be fascinating to see how long it took and how far each note travelled before I heard any news about it.

So today, I pledge to sign and photograph every £5 note I receive, and spend it again as I normally would. I’ll put the pictures on my website, hope someone inquisitive comes across them, and wait for their email. Which could potentially be a very, very long time.

And my first act will be to add my name to the note which already bears Sheila Sergenson’s name, and release it back into circulation.

Not the end of the story for that banknote, but hopefully just the beginning…

It’s a week since I emailed Palacerigg Golf Club. There’s been no response. I don’t know about you but I find that surprising (and maybe a wee tad rude) given I did offer in my email to make a donation to club funds.

This leaves me at a bit of a loss as to what to do. I could always just pitch up at the golf club and ask around, or perhaps “do a Shawshank Redemption” and write to them twice a week until I get a response. The phonebook might be one option, too, as might writing to Cumbernauld’s newspaper, should they have one.

But something about those options makes me err on the side of caution. After all, I don’t really fancy a restraining order, and it’s very hard to blog from inside prison.

So… any ideas?

This evening I wrote the following email to the secretary of Palacerigg Golf Club in Cumbernauld in an attempt to contact Sheila Sergenson.

If I get a response, you’ll be first to know. Well, at least second, after me.

___________

From: Simon Varwell <mail@simonvarwell.co.uk>
To: secretary@palacerigg.co.uk
Date: Aug 21, 2006 9:25 PM
Subject: Contacting Sheila Sergenson

Dear club secretary

This might seem like a bizarre enquiry, but I am a resident of Glasgow and am attempting to contact someone by the name of Sheila Sergenson, who I believe is a member of your club.

The other week a Royal Bank of Scotland five pound note came into my possession – I don’t remember precisely how or when – which has “Sheila Sergenson” written on it. You can see it at http://www.simonvarwell.co.uk/sergenson.jpg. Being of an easily-bored disposition, I decided it might be rather fun to see if I could return the banknote to her. A friend did a “google” search and found mention of her on your club’s website. Hence my email.

I’d be intrigued to find out why someone wrote “Sheila Sergenson” on a banknote. I’ve heard it’s quite a common challenge to write your name on a banknote and then spend the note, just to see if you ever get it back again or hear from someone who finds it. In which case please let her know that she’s succeeded. If she would like her £5 back, I’d be happy to send it to her care of the golf club as a memento of her successful mission.

If of course it was someone else who wrote it, then I wonder why. Perhaps someone felt she deserved to have her name recorded due to her skill as a golfer. Or maybe someone accidentally confused their bingo money for their address book.

Anyway, if you could pass on the message and let me know if she would like her £5 back, I would be so grateful. And if she doesn’t, perhaps I could send it to you anyway as a donation to club funds. Or even better, you could frame it and put it on the wall of the clubhouse, above the caption: “The mystery of how one of our members’ names ended up on a Royal Bank of Scotland £5 note, and how it caused a random stranger from Glasgow to gain possession of it and email us to say he’d found it“. Your call, really!

I shall leave this message with you, and will look forward to a response at your convenience.

With very best wishes,
Simon Varwell

PS I’m afraid I’ve never played golf, but I did play crazy golf a couple of times. It was fun!
PPS I’m also afraid to confess I’ve never been to Cumbernauld, either. Or watched “Gregory’s Girl”.

I’ve had a £5 note in my pocket the past few weeks which I have not spent, because there is a name on it. Sheila Sergenson.

I can’t remember where I got the note – change in a shop or pub, most likely. I think I remember receiving the note, seeing the name, and thinking it might be worth investigating, but I have no recollection of where I was at the time. I just tucked it away in my wallet, forgot about it, and only discovered it again tonight.

I wonder who Sheila Sergenson is, and why she or someone else wrote her name on a Royal Bank of Scotland five pound note? It would be nice to return her cash to her – it’s got her name on it, after all. She might be wondering where it got to.

A simple google search doesn’t throw up much, other than the confirmation that “Sergenson” is a real name.

Any other ideas?