Pen Pal letters hidden for 60 years rediscovered at Rock Ferry house

When Danielle Areola bought her new house in Rock Ferry in March, she decided to do some renovations and redecorating before moving in. Little did she know what she would find when she was clearing out a brick void in one of the walls.

“I found an old school jumper stuffed in the void and under that, I saw the pile of letters.”, Daniella said. “Some are too far gone but some are in a nice condition and readable.”

Danielle had a quick look through her exciting find and discovered that the letters were from pen pals of a previous occupant of the house. “The earliest date from a quick scan seems to be 8th of March 1961 and the 2 envelopes are dated 1st and 6th of May 1961.

“One letter is also from April 30th 1961 so 60 years to the day virtually!”, Danielle continued.

The stash of letters mention Heswall, Ireland and trips to New Brighton. There are also return addresses of Gillbrook Square in Birkenhead, and also Garston, Liverpool and Salford, Lancashire.

Daneille said, “It would be nice to find the owner as they’re ironically all postmarked from around the date we bought the house last month up until May 1st and 6th making it exactly 60 years since they were posted. They are all addressed to Miss Kathleen Murray, Bedford Avenue, Rock Ferry.”

Danielle told birkenhead.news that she hopes the letter could get back to the original recipient or her family as she seems young from the letters.

“I think we all wish we’d kept memories like these at some point. If not we’ll keep them in the house for the next 60 years.”, Danielle explained. “Honestly, it was really exciting uncovering a little piece of forgotten history. My partner and I both said it oddly made the house feel more like a home afterwards with this little connection to its past.”

The jumper Danielle found stuffed in the wall.
Some of the envelopes suffer from mildew damage, but many are still readable after 60 years.

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