Child's secret letter found 44 years later
The letter was found by Michelle Harwood under the stairs of her house
- Published
Have you ever made a time capsule, maybe with a note inside, and hidden it away for someone to find in the future?
Well when Michelle Harwood was having building work done to her house in Hockley, Essex, a worker handed her a piece of paper he'd found.
It turned out to be a letter written by a 10-year-old girl who had hidden it under the stairs.
The letter was dated 12 August 1982 - "I couldn't believe that note had been there longer than I've been alive," said Michelle.
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The letter began "To the finder" which Michelle said immediately "gave me goosebumps", as she knew it had been put there on purpose.
It was written in blue ink on A5 lined paper with the letter-writer sharing her name, some facts about her family and her pet cat, Kizzy.
Michelle wanted to try and track her down, and after sharing on social media managed to connect with her.
Rachel Miles at her Hockley address before she moved away - and an image of her now
The ten-year-old girl from 1982, is now 54-year-old teacher Rachel Miles, who lives in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
She said she got the idea from watching Blue Peter in the 1980s which showed children how to make time capsules, and she decided to put one in a gap behind the stairs.
"I just thought it would be quite nice to basically post a letter for the future and I'm obviously quite delighted to see that someone had found it," she said.
Michelle decided to keep the unexpected find, proudly displaying it on the family fridge for others to see too.
