A holidaymaker was excited to find a message in a bottle while walking on a North Wales beach – but when she read the letter, she was left feeling disappointed
A Ludlow holidaymaker was left feeling shirt changed after finding a message in a bottle. Sue Roe made the exciting discovery on the beach near her Caerddaniel caravan site just a mile north of Barmouth, Gwynedd.
She wondered whether it might hold a distress call from a shipwrecked sailor or maybe a love letter from a far-flung, exotic location. “I was on an early morning dog walk across the beach,” Sue said. “The bottle had travelled up quite high up the beach by the rocks. It was quite thrilling.
“I carefully carried it back to my caravan. It took a while to get the letter out because it was wet – but I managed it with only one slight tear. I was surprised where it had come from.”, reports North Wales Live.
Inside was a letter from Megan Jones, another caravanner who’d been staying at the Lyons Sunnysands Holiday Park just 500 metres up the coast. Her message had been floating in Cardigan Bay for no more than 10 days.
It detailed her affection for a part of the world in “Wales, England (sic)”. Megan, hailing from Birmingham, wrote: “I’ve been coming almost every year as a kid, now adult. It’s my favourite place to come to the beach and relax. Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now.
“Lots of lovely memories with my family and dog Rolo (chihuahua) walking across the beach, embracing the cold ocean, taking in the breathtaking views and stuffing our faces with donuts.”
Megan, who describes herself online as a “Pet Lover, Horror Addict and Fibro Warrior”, asked the finder to contact her via social media.
Upon returning home, Sue shared a photo of Megan’s letter online after being unable to reach her directly. Users were swift to highlight the bottle’s disappointing voyage and its early retrieval.
“Oh dear,” commented one woman. “That was found a five-minute drive/20-minute walk from where it went in.”
Another remarked: “Chuck it back in, she’d be gutted if she new it only floated around Barmouth for a few days.”
Bottles containing messages have been employed to send loved ones’ ashes on their final voyage and, more notably, to transport letters from doomed voyagers. Some have even sparked lifelong friendships.
In truth, most messages vanish without a trace – as many as 97% according to certain studies. A wooden cask containing a note from Christopher Columbus, declaring his discoveries in the New World, was never recovered.
Earlier message-in-bottle endeavours along the Gwynedd coastline have also met with disappointing results, with tides sweeping them along the shore rather than towards the open ocean.
Online, a Salford woman remembered discovering a message in a bottle on Harlech beach. “It had travelled all the way from Shell Island…!” she remarked.
In a direct line, that’s roughly two miles distant. Another disappointing find was a bottle containing a strange and offensive message, discovered on Pwllheli beach.
It’s believed to have been thrown into the sea by a disgruntled teenager.
The note inside referred to tourists as “fat b*******” and told English holidaymakers to “p** off”. Signed off with the words “hello fishy”, it also used an offensive term to describe Welsh people.
After Sue posted about her unusual find online, Megan got in touch. Despite the unexpected content of the message, she didn’t seem too disheartened.
“Omg,” she exclaimed. “Can’t believe it didn’t go far and not for long. Thanks for finding it.”
Sue has vowed to give Megan’s bottle another chance at sea when she next visits Barmouth, hoping it might journey a bit further this time – and not just serve as an unconventional messaging system between nearby caravan parks.
“It was a shame it hadn’t travelled that far,” said Sue. “I was disappointed that it wasn’t from farther afield. But it was still fun to find!”
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