On my first trip to England, there were three of us travelling together, and at Chester, a friend left a piece of luggage on the train. What a hassle, as BritRail apparently feared it had a bomb in it.

From then on we made it a rule to count the luggage before getting on and off a train, plane or bus and to assign the same pieces to the same person for the duration of the trip. Haven't lost one since.
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I'm glad you two got your instruments back. Ebor, I went to YouTube and watched Ebor Morris dancing 'Skirmish.' Is that you on the fiddle?