A BOTTLE containing messages from two teenage girls asking for boyfriends has washed up after drifting in a British river for 56 years.

The corked glass bottle was discovered by a group of volunteers who were cleaning up the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire.

Tracey Marshall, 59, and her daughter Charlotte, 19, found the messages in a bottle while working for Scunthorpe Litter Pickers.

“My daughter noticed the bottle in the mud and was quite buried but you could see the top of the bottle poking out. Charlotte dragged it out and cleaned it and noticed there was something inside. We found a lot of bottles and usually put them in a recycling bag but this one had a cork so it pricked our attention,” said Marshall.

“We tried to get the notes out but couldn’t, so we actually smashed the bottle. Inside were two rolled up notes. It’s really exciting, we couldn’t believe it when we found them. I just popped it on social media and didn’t expect it to blow up as much as it did,” she added.

Inside were two scribbled notes written by 15-year-old pals Jennifer Coleman and Janet Blankley dated Aug. 9, 1966. The girls wrote descriptions of themselves and invited teenage boys who found the bottle to write back to them. The girls both included their addresses in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Blankley wrote: “I am 15, not bad looking, long wavy brown, chestnut hair and 5’4. Anyone interested, a photo will be exchanged in person. No one under 16 or over 18.”

Coleman’s note said: “Anyone who finds this please contact J Coleman.” Please write if you are a boy under 18 over 16. Please send photo and one will be exchanged. Thank you.”

Incredibly, Marshall later tracked Coleman down on social media and discovered she moved to Australia with her family in 1973.

Coleman, now 71, said: “Janet and I went our separate ways once we finished school. I had completely forgotten about the message in the bottle and I can’t believe it was in the water for that long. I think we just wanted boy pen pals.”

The group also contacted Blankley’s family who say she still lives in Grantham. “I’d love to say hello and see where our paths went,” said Coleman.

(SD-Agencies)