Mystery of bottle note is solved

Jonathon Atkinson and Natalie Porter were stunned to find an old bottle hidden on a shelf in their chimney at their Fleetwood home – and inside was a message written on yellowing paper.

It turned out to have been written by previous Hatfield Avenue occupant Lavenia Jones, then aged just 19 years old, way back in 1948.

Mum-of-three Natalie, 29, said: ”I was in the kitchen when Jonathon started shouting and came in with the bottle.

“Jonathon said we should save the bottle so he pulled the note out with tweezers.

“It was quite hard to read but we managed to work it out and find out the person’s name. It was really exciting.”

The note included the message: “April 4 1948. Rather dull. Sun trying to break through. Hope it is sunny this afternoon, then I can take some snaps on the promenade.”

Jonathon put out a message on Facebook and some of the pieces came together after getting replies.

He was told Lavenia’s parents had run Jones Newsagents from the premises and later Lavenia took over the business herself, before it was turned into a house.

And a member of staff at a Cleveleys care home contacted him to say they believed a Lavenia Rogers, a resident aged around 89, was the same woman.

Natalia said: “They put us in touch with her son and we went to see her and showed her the note.”

The couple plan to add a note of their own to the bottle – and put it back for others to find in future