Lost school jumper found on roof after 20 years

An old school jumper that has been missing for 20 years has been found on the roof of a school in Cheshire.

In a post on social media, Huxley CofE Primary wrote: "Would Tommy Crank - aged 27 like to collect his jumper from the school?"

It seems when Tommy was seven, he decided to play a game where he tied his jumper into a ball to see how far he could throw it - unfortunately the jumper ended up on the school roof, where it stayed for a long time.

It was only when the school had to fix the roof recently that Tommy's missing jumper was finally discovered.

Tommy's name tag was still attached to his old jumper

Speaking to Newsround, headteacher Rachel Gourley said: "There was a small leak on the roof - when we went to go and have a look there was an awful lot of moss and a ball of moss in the corner, when we undid it, it was an old jumper."

Amazingly the jumper still had Tommy's name tag sewn into the collar.

After looking at the size of the jumper and their records, the school was able to work out the jumper had been on the roof for about 20 years.

Following the post on social media, asking for the jumper to be collected, a grown-up Tommy Crank replied saying: "Hi, can I have my jumper please?"

Mrs Gourley joked it was "a good reminder to parents to put the names of their children in uniforms".

Huxley CofE Primary is a flexi school with fewer than 40 pupils with a mix of full-time and home learning

Tommy's jumper might never have been found as two years ago, Huxley CofE Primary faced risk of closure during the pandemic.

The school, which has fewer than 40 pupils, has experienced a lot of change since Tommy was last there.

Now known as a flexi school, children there are a mix of full-time pupils and home-educated pupils.

Asked their reaction to the mucky, moss-covered jumper, Mrs Gourley sad: "The children have absolutely loved this story."

The building where the jumper was found has also changed, it's since been extended to cover part of the area where Tommy used to play.

Although it does mean jumpers are less likely to get lost on the roof, Mrs Gourley says she won't be encouraging current pupils to copy Tommy's game of 20 years ago.

A young Tommy (pictured right) possibly wearing the same school jumper before it was lost

Mrs Gourley said the school had experienced a big reaction to the lost jumper on social media.

"It's given everybody a bit of a smile," she said.

As for Tommy, he's planning to visit the school in a couple of weeks to collect his lost clothing.

Hopefully he's not expecting it to still fit.