92-Year-Old Joiner Revisits Hexham Wool House After 52 Years

Peter Wylie aided in the conversion of a warehouse in 1973, transforming it into the Swimming Baths in Hexham. Fifty-two years later, his family came across an article in the newspaper which mentioned the discovery of a time capsule.

Anthony Gibbons, the manager of the Wool House project—now being converted into a luxury apartment complex—discovered the time capsule on site during recent construction. On January 28, Anthony tasked bricklayers with removing stone from the building’s facade.

Brothers Paul and David Siddle, along with their father, Alfred Siddle, were involved in the process when they noticed a hollow space in the wall. Inside the space, they found a Schweppes glass bottle that contained the names and jobs of workers involved in the 1970s conversion of the building.

Anthony’s team created a new list containing the names and jobs of their current team members. This list was placed inside the bottle, which was then returned to the wall. Peter’s family saw the article on February 2, recognizing that he had worked on the 1973 project and that his name was on the original list.

They reached out to Anthony to inquire about a visit. Peter, now 92 years old and with fond memories of that project, visited the site with his wife, Margaret, and daughter, Dawn.

Dawn expressed her gratitude for Anthony’s helpfulness and kindness. He showed them the exact location where the bottle had been found. Peter thoroughly enjoyed the visit, as it brought back many positive memories.