Heritage search for mystery note writer from 1966

Archaeologists are hoping islanders can help them reveal the identity of a mystery note writer from 1966.

Jersey Heritage (JH) found the note hidden in a glass bottle buried in concrete in a fireplace whilst working on the restoration of Elizabeth Castle.

The note was signed by an E A Blampied, reading: “007 James Bond... P.S. Secret agent. Don't tell anybody."

JH said the note was accompanied by pages 15 to 18 of the weekly Reveille newspaper, dated 23 February 1966.

Harvey Doolan, historic buildings officer, said the papers and the note were "quite an eclectic mix to find".

He said the writer was "clearly a very big James Bond fan", and that his first thought was that they "might have been a well known Jersey artist, Edmund Blampied".

"However, he was 79-years-old at that point in time, and he passed away in the August of that year so we thought it was possibly unlikely that he was shoving bottles into fireplaces at Elizabeth Castle."

Mr Doolan said the bottle would have been hidden during a restoration project, which would have been done by the public's work committee.

He said: "That was the last fireplace to be blocked, all the others had been blocked between probably 1923 and 1946 as we found cigarette packets from the period and German ammunition.

"It's trying to get down to the lives of normal everyday people that history has generally not captured."

JH hopes a relative, or even the writer of the note, may still be alive to claim ownership.

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