Worksop chimney sweeps find Santa letter lost for decades

The folded letter was found in a pile of soot after the chimney was swept

A letter addressed to Santa stuck up a chimney for decades has been found, prompting an appeal to track down the writer.

The singed and sooty note - marked urgent - was discovered by sweeps at a house in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

In it, Robert Crampton asks for a "cowboy suit and guns and a hat and everything", adding "that would be enough for me, Santa".

Sweeps Chimney Services said it would be "wonderful" to trace the writer.

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Sweeps for the firm were working at the property - the exact location of which is being kept secret - on Monday when they found the note.

Cheryl Thorne, officer manager at the company, said: "The soot came down and in it was this perfectly folded note.

"When they read it, they were absolutely astonished."

'The best ever find'

Written in neat blue pen, Robert Crampton signed off with "see you tomorrow night".

While the letter is undated, the current owners said their family had lived there for decades and had no knowledge of the sender.

The tradition of sending letters to Father Christmas up the chimney dates back to Victorian times

Occasional finds of "chimney treasure" have included cigarette packets and even a collection of coloured stones.

But Ms Thorne said: "This is definitely the best ever. I had always told people the one thing I had hoped to find was a note to Santa.

"What we all want to know is, did he get what he wanted?"

The tradition of writing requests for presents to Father Christmas dates back to the late Victorian era, where letters were actually burnt in the fireplace as a way of getting them, magically, to the man himself.

The owners have said if the writer is not traced, they will have the letter framed.