Hales rabbit hole letters find sparks decades-old mystery

The handwritten letters were found together in a pile in a rabbit hole next to a busy road in Norfolk and addressed to a "Miss Jane" in York

A mystery has been unearthed after a bundle of letters dating back almost 50 years was found down a rabbit hole.

Utilities engineer Sean Kennedy was on a site visit to Hales, near Loddon, Norfolk, when he saw the handwritten envelopes in the bottom of the hole.

The three letters were sent to someone called "Miss Jane" in York in 1976 and 1982 from Cambridgeshire and Kent.

Mr Kennedy said he hoped to reunite the letters with their owner after spotting them in a moment of "randomness".

The letters were found at the junction of Readscross Lane and the A146 in Hales, near Loddon in Norfolk

He said while he has the addresses of the recipient in York and those of the writer or writers, he felt the passage of time meant the people involved were unlikely to live there any more and was appealing for them to be claimed.

The gas lead engineer, 39, from Woodbridge, in Suffolk, made the discovery next to the roadside on the busy A146 junction with Readscross Lane on Monday.

Listen: How the letters were discovered

He said he had no idea - given the locations of the writers and recipient - why the correspondence should be "found down a rabbit hole in Hales".

"You find the odd funny thing, but the majority is rubbish - this threw me," said Mr Kennedy.

"I saw one of the handwritten letters on top and thought, 'this is strange' so picked it out and there were two below that.

"If it was an animal that had put them there they would be more scattered - these three letters were together.

"They'd been placed there... there was nothing scandalous, just ordinary letters."

Sean Kennedy, pictured with his sons Rowan (left) and Niall (centre), said he would keep the letters safe

Although the senders' names were illegible, the postmarks of 1976 and 1982 were easily identifiable and tallied with the dates written on the letters.

The father of two said the letters hallmarked an era before text messages and emails and seemed to be "catch-ups" between an elderly relative and someone much younger or even pen pals.

He said it had also been interesting how the letters harked back to a more formal use of language.

Mr Kennedy said the papers - featuring a six-and-a-half pence first class stamp - were written from addresses in Dullingham in Cambridgeshire, near Newmarket, and then Frittenden, near Tunbridge Wells in Kent, following a mention of a house move.

He said while he was aware the people involved may no longer be alive, it would be "good" to return the letters to their original owner and he would keep them safe.

Mr Kennedy added the unusual find had piqued people's interest on social media, following his post on a local community group, which has gathered dozens of likes.

"I'll be happy to hand them over... it's a mystery which is unresolved at the moment," he said.

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