The Telegraph & Argus Cottingley Cameras Appeal has been given a fantastic £1,300 boost by a shy benefactor.

She is making the donation to help our campaign to buy the famous Cottingley Fairies photographs and the cameras that were used to take them.

Appeal organisers said today they were both delighted and moved by the contribution to the campaign, which is for a tenth of the entire £13,000 target.

The 59-year-old Bradford-born woman says she is making the donation because she remembers with fondness her magical childhood visits to Fairy Dell - and still believes in fairies today.

She and her younger sister used to go on walks with their mother near where the famous photographs were taken.

The woman now lives in Coventry and works for her husband's building company but still has a house in Cottingley and comes back here regularly.

It was sheer chance, though, that she was on an unscheduled visit to Bradford for a funeral on the very day that the Telegraph & Argus launched the appeal and saw a copy of our newspaper.

"It is things like which may appear to be pure coincidence but make me believe that it is the fairies at work," she said.

The woman wishes to remain anonymous because of the size of her donation. "My husband does not believe in fairies but we both believe in God and do strongly believe that there are things which have happened in our lives which show that there are greater forces at work than we know of," she said.

"I decided to make the donation as a straight ten per cent of the amount needed because it's something that I feel very strongly about. It's been one of the major stories of the 20th century.

"My husband and I are both very strong supporters of charity. I don't spend on money on myself. We love work and I don't like holidays. I certainly can't buy expensive things like clothes when I know there are less fortunate people all around the world. Probably about 20 cent of my income goes to charity."

The campaign, launched in conjunction with Amateur Photographer magazine, is to buy the photographs, cameras and other historic artefacts from their owner.

He had planned to auction them to the highest bidder but has instead been persuaded to accept a private bid of £13,000. The items will be given to the National Museum of Photography Film and Television to go on public display.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.