The postcard inside asked for it to be sent to the Marine Biological Association of the UK – promising the sender a shilling if they returned the bottle.

The association in Plymouth said the bottle was one of over 1,000 released as part of marine research carried out by expert George Parker Bidder.

Retired German postal worker Marianne Winkler found the bottle in April last year after 108 years, four months and 18 days.

She found it during her holiday on the Frisian Islands in the North Sea, about 310 miles (500km) from the UK.

Ms Winkler sent it back to the UK and received an old English shilling (5p) in return.

Guinness World Records has confirmed the message in a bottle as the world’s oldest.

Guy Baker, from the Marine Biological Association, said: “The postcard asked the finder to fill out information about where the bottle was found, if it was trawled up, what the boat’s name was, and asked once the postcard was completed for it to be returned to a George Parker Bidder in Plymouth for a reward of one shilling. Mr Bidder was a president at the Marine Biological Association from 1939 to 1945, so our receptionist was somewhat confused.”

Bidder had released 1,020 bottles between 1904 and 1906 which he found that the bottles were picked up by the fishermen at the rate of 55 per cent each year.

Mr Baker added: “Some bottles were never returned, assumed to be lost in the open ocean forever.”

The previous record for a message in a bottle was 99 years and 43 days. It was found west of the Shetland Islands in July 2013.

source: independent.co.uk

Message in a bottle returned to woman 20 YEARS after she threw it into the sea

When schoolgirl Zoe Lemon threw a bottle with a message inside into the sea she soon forgot about it. But 23 years later she has been stunned to receive a reply – after the bottle was discovered more than 350 miles (562 km) away in the Netherlands.

Zoe, who has since married and lives in Salford, tossed the letter into the sea as she left Hull on a ferry for a family holiday to Germany when she was just 10. The mum – whose surname is now Averianov – was flabbergasted when her parents called for Christmas and said they had post from Europe. It turned out to be a reply to her letter from Piet and Jacqueline Lateur from near Rotterdam.

Piet was walking his dog in the Oosterschelde dykes, near where he and his wife Jacqueline live, when he found the bottle with Zoe’s letter inside. Zoe, 33, who works in a jewellery shop and lives in Pendleton, said: “It’s been a bit crazy really. My parents came to visit on Christmas day and they had this letter from Europe addressed to my maiden name, Lemon. The first thing I saw was my handwriting as a child and my little letter saying who I was and about my pets and my hobbies. It made me a bit emotional.”

Since receiving the letter, Zoe has been in contact with Piet via email and asked to see photographs of where the bottle was found. He told her: “I am keeping your little letter on my piano. I know you are no longer a little girl but you asked me to write you so I have.” 

source: www.mirror.co.uk

to throw – dobni
to be stunned – megdöbbenni
reply – válasz
to toss – hajítani
ferry – komp
surname – családnév
flabbergasted – elképedt
to walk the dog – kutyát sétáltatni
dyke – védőgát
maiden name – lánykori név
to be emotional – elérzékenyülni
to be in contact – kapcsolatba lépni, tartani a kapcsolatot valakivel
via – keresztül

Match the synonyms.

answers: 1-b 2-d 3-e 4-a 5-c

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-GB
X-NONE
X-NONE

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