Mystery as decades-old letter found under tree

Mr Elshaw said he found the letter in an envelope under a tree in a garden he was clearing

A gardener says he was amazed to find a letter dated 1955 virtually intact under a tree he was clearing in a Wolverhampton garden.

Adam Elshaw said it was from a hotel in Torquay, Devon, and addressed to a man who lived on the Stafford Road in Fordhouses, setting out the costs of its rooms.

He was working in a garden in nearby Tettenhall a few weeks ago when he found it and said the homeowners knew nothing about it.

"How it got there, and under a tree, and survived 70 years I do not know," he said.

Adam Elshaw said it was a mysterious find

"I was trimming the tree and tidying it up and I just thought it was a bit of rubbish," Mr Elshaw, from Bishop's Wood, Staffordshire, added.

"I couldn't believe it was an envelope and a letter that was 70 years old.

"I was amazed.... It's a once in a lifetime find I think and I'd be interested to see if there's anything else we can find out about it."

The typed letter is dated 21 January 1955 with the letterhead of Ashleigh Court in Torquay and sent to a JR Gwilt Esquire of Stafford Road, Wolverhampton.

Seemingly responding to an inquiry by Mr Gwilt about a possible booking, the letter stated rooms were charged at six, seven and seven-and-half guineas per person for a week, including meals.

"The rooms vary in size and position of course, but all are attractive and comfortable," the letter read.

BBC News contacted a hotel of the same name but spelt slightly differently in the town, but the owner said it was not from his hotel, believing it to be from another of the same name in Torquay that shut several years ago.

"It's a bizarre find given its age and that it was just under a tree where I was clearing and has no connection to the house," Mr Elshaw said.

"It's pretty unexplainable currently."