Little Stella Margaret Pryce was only eight years old when she was tragically killed on her way to school in Welshpool.

But more than 78 years later, a “beautiful” piece of memorial artwork that hung inside Gungrog Infants School before it closed in 2017 has been reunited with her brother Tony in Somerset.

Former Welshpool Church in Wales Primary School headteacher Justine Baldwin said it was her mission before she left her role to track down the family after learning more about the touching story.

Stella died from her injuries on September 5, 1944 after she was accidently knocked down by a lorry at the entrance to Church Street. In memory of their little girl, Stella's heartbroken parents Mr and Mrs Thomas Herbert-Pryce, of Maes-y-garreg, Welshpool placed £150 – worth more than £5,000 today – in a trust fund to buy Christmas treats for Gungrog School children.

OTHER NEWS:

Dr Baldwin said: “It seems that the money lasted for about four decades, well into the 1980s. The children of the school were still benefitting from the trust fund that came as a result of the tragic death of this little girl.

“I wanted to take care of this [artwork] because I thought it was so special. I’ve been trying to find the family members because I really feel that this should go back to any surviving members of Stella’s family.

"It’s so beautiful and touching and I think it belongs to them.

“They were very touched and delighted to be given this back. Posting it with love from Welshpool Church in Wales Primary School so it goes back to where it belongs.”