A man has been reunited with his wallet after it was found in a wall cavity more than 100 miles from his home - 35 years after it was stolen . John Steel , 45 , lost the brown leather purse aged 10 when a thief climbed into his caravan while he was on holiday in Devon . But the square wallet - containing a photo of himself and a £1 note - turned up again during renovation work at a house in Shaldon , Devon , now owned by Shelley Davies . The wallet and photograph of 10-year-old John Steel found in a wall cavity 35 years after it went missing . Builders found it in a wall space in this alleyway during renovations at a house in Shaldon , Devon . Builders found the wallet in a wall cavity and she set about finding the boy in the photograph . The picture of the schoolboy had 'John Steel ' written underneath and the address 'The Lye , Seend ' in Wiltshire on the back . She posted the photo on the Melksham Town Council 's Facebook page and within hours Mr Steel 's friends recognised him and tracked him down . Mr Steel - who has now been reunited with his wallet - said : ' I was about 10 at the time on holiday in either Dorset or Devon staying with a friend and his family in a caravan . 'My friend 's dad woke up at night just in time to see someone climbing out of the window . Luckily mine was the only wallet taken . ' Shelley Davies ( pictured ) said the return of the wallet illustrated the 'power of Facebook ' Mr Steel , from Neston , Wiltshire , added : 'As for why I had a picture of myself in the wallet I 've no idea . Not sure what to spend the £1 note on though ! ' The wallet was found by Mrs Davies when builders pulled up wall boards to install a kitchen extension at her property earlier this month . Her property backs onto the former caravan site and was once part of a pub . The deli owner posted a photo of the wallet and its contents on the Melksham Town Facebook page and it was 'shared ' 50 times before Mr Steel was tracked down . Her post said : 'We would love to return it - and maybe she 'd some light on how it managed to get wedged up behind the fascia boards of our ground floor extension which runs along an alleyway in a small South Devon Village . 'Guessing it was put there in 70 's looking at the photograph . 'Maybe the wallet was stolen and hidden there ( it contains a small amount of money ) or was it hidden there as a prank ? Who knows ? ' Speaking after it was handed back to Mr Steel , Mrs Davies added : 'It goes to show the power of Facebook . I think John is quite amazed and really , really , pleased . 'The sentimental value is huge , but the £1 note is n't going to get him very far these days . ' He added : 'It 's nice to know that there are still good people around . '
A man has been obsessed with his money stolen from him as a 10-year - old . John Steel , now 45 , lost the brown ##stone purse while on holiday in Devon . she found it in a wall ##paper while visiting Shelley Davies ' home . She then posted it on Facebook and Mr money was eventually turned down .