Missing: The £180,000 violin its owner accidentally left in the luggage rack of a train

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When Robert Napier boarded the train, he could have been forgiven for hugging to himself the violin he was carrying.

The 67-year-old was heading home from London after having had the heirloom valued at an eye-popping £180,000.

But he was determined not to attract other passengers' attention and casually put the 310-year-old instrument in an overhead luggage rack.

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Sour note: Elizabeth Hunt playing the £180,000 violin, which her son left on a train

And that was his big mistake.

When the train approached his stop in Bedwyn, Wiltshire, the retired shipping consultant picked up his coat and briefcase … but not the violin.

It was only as Mr Napier stood on the platform watching the 125mph London to Taunton express disappearing into the distance that it dawned on him he was missing something.

'It was just an awful sinking feeling when I realised what I had done,' he said. 'I have relived that moment again and again, the absolutely awful split second when I realised the train was steaming off and the violin was still on it. I had picked up my coat and my briefcase, but the violin was in the luggage rack above my seat. It is like losing an Old Master.'

Mr Napier immediately contacted police and railway staff and the train was searched when it arrived in Taunton. But the violin had vanished and has not been seen since.

It was made in Venice in 1698 by Matteo Goffriller, a master craftsman whose instruments have been played by some of the world's greatest musicians, including violinist Nicolo Paganini and cellist Jacqueline du Pré.

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Robert Napier, 67, left the family heirloom in the luggage rack when he stepped off the train

The £180,000 violin also has great significance for the Napier family.

It was bought by Mr Napier's mother Elizabeth Hunt, who performed with the Ebsworth Quartet during the Second World War.

The all-woman ensemble played in factories, Army and Air Force bases and even in air raid shelters as part of efforts to boost morale.

When Mrs Hunt died in 2006 at 93, the violin passed to her five children.

The family kept it for sentimental reasons, but decided to have it valued – so Mr Napier took it to a dealer in London on January 29. It was on his way home on the 12.18 from Paddington that the violin that survived the Blitz was lost.

Mr Napier, a grandfather of two, of Marlborough, Wiltshire, said: 'When I put it on the luggage rack, I thought I couldn't possibly forget it. I wouldn't say I was a particularly forgetful person.

'It was the first time I had been on one of the new, fast trains to Bedwyn and as I got off I was just thinking about the train and whether it would fit on the platform. I just wasn't thinking about the violin.

'We went hunting for it, my wife and I drove through all the stations and left notices for it, and my sister and my cousin did the whole journey on the train the next day, but time has gone by and nothing's happened.

'My brothers and sisters have been very understanding, but that doesn't hide the disappointment.

'The chances are that somebody has it without realising quite what it is.

'We just want it back. Quite aside from its value, it has tremendous sentimental value.'

The missing Goffriller was with a bow stamped R Sartory in a brown case bearing a luggage label in the name of Elizabeth Napier. Insurance company Allianz has offered a £10,000 reward for its return.

Mr Napier's wife Clare, 66, said: 'It's very sad. In fact, it's a disaster. We are just praying it turns up.'

 

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