Five-year-old’s message in a bottle washes up on Danish beach
AFIVE-YEAR-OLD from Sunderland was “super excited” when he discovered that a message in a bottle he threw off a pier had been found in Denmark months later.
Harry Liddle and his sister Grace
Liddle, 12, threw the glass bottles off Roker Pier in Sunderland on August 28 last year.
On March 6, their mother Christie Bowley, 35, received a response on Messenger to say her son’s bottle had been found in Denmark.
Ms Bowley, who lives with her family in Grindon Lane, Sunderland, told PA news agency: “I got a friend request on Facebook and I just left it there and saw he was from
Denmark and didn’t think much anything of it. I then checked my emails and I had an email from the same person who said he’s found Harry’s bottle and I couldn’t believe it.”
Frederik Bilgrav Schramm, from
Romo, Denmark, told PA he found the bottle on March 6 and also sent some photos of it to the family. The 24-year-old, a ship owner and farmer, said: “It was the only bottle this day. It was most likely washed ashore somewhat earlier, as it has been at least two months since the water was so high up there where we found it.”
Ms Bowley said the bottle travelled in a straight line from the pier to where it was found in Denmark. She said: “If you look on a map, it went on one straight line across the ocean, which is crazy.”
“Harry said he thought his bottle would be found back on Sunderland beach, when his bottle was found he was happy and super excited.”
It was Ms Bowley’s partner and the children’s father Jason Liddle who came up with the message in a bottle idea initially. “He told them one day, ‘Should we write some messages in a bottle?’” said Ms Bowley. “They were really excited and so we ordered some bottles from Amazon and we even tested them to make sure they would not sink.
They came with little scrolls inside which they wrote the messages on.”
Harry’s note read: “To whoever finds this bottle, my name is Harry Liddle. I am 5 years old from Sunderland, England. Please can you let my parents know when you find this bottle via Facebook or email.”
The message was followed by Ms Bowley’s contact details and signed off with the words ‘Thanks Harry.’ Harry also drew a picture, which was included inside his bottle.
Grace’s note was similar to her brother’s. Ms Bowley said family members and friends were “in shock” when they discovered Harry’s bottle had been found.
She said: “A lot of people have even said now they want to try it. We never thought the bottles would be found, it was just something fun to do with the kids, but we always hoped they might be found.”
Ms Bowley said it is a “waiting game” to see if Grace’s bottle is found. She said: “Grace’s bottle is somewhere out there, so it is just a waiting game.”