For example, take the team photograph of the Inverell Swans rugby League team snapped in 1968 that Denis Hills tried to chase down for almost 40 years. Hills was on the team and appeared in the photo.

But as far as Hills knew, a friend by the name of Paul Montgomery was the only person to have a copy, and he had lent it to another person who was assisting rugby league coach, Wayne Bennett, at the Newcastle Knights.

Montgomery wanted the photo back, Hills wanted a copy of it, but the person who had it said he could not find it.

That seemed to be the end of the matter, until Montgomery’s wife Margaret decided the photo meant a great deal to the two men and decided to retrieve it. She was a determined lady who was responsible for the photo eventually arriving in the mail box at Hills’ house. It was in pretty ragged shape and that is where Hills’ son came in.

Brian Hills lives in Murwillumbah and was handy with digital photography, including Photoshop. 

He got to work to digitally restore the small photo, and the result is the mass of memories that appears above.