From Sunderland to Denmark: Five-year-old Harry’s message in a bottle found

A five-year-old from Sunderland was “super excited” when he discovered that a message in a bottle he threw off a pier had been found in Denmark months later.

Harry Liddle and his sister Grace Liddle, 12, threw the glass bottles off Roker Pier in Sunderland on August 28 2023.

On March 6, their mother Christie Bowley, 35, received a response on Messenger to say her son’s bottle had been found in Denmark.

Grace and Harry with their bottles (Christie Bowley/PA)

Ms Bowley, who helps out at her partner Jason Liddle’s business – Instaflor Ltd – and lives with her family in Grindon Lane, Sunderland, told the PA news agency: “I got a friend request on Facebook and I just left it there and saw he was from Denmark and didn’t think much anything of it.

“I then checked my emails and I had an email from the same person who said he’s found Harry’s bottle and I couldn’t believe it.”

Frederik Bilgrav Schramm, from Romo, Denmark, told PA he found the bottle on March 6 and also sent some photos of it to the family.

Harry’s note (Frederik Bilgrav Schramm/PA)

The 24-year-old, who is a ship owner and farmer, said: “It was the only bottle this day.

“It was most likely washed ashore somewhat earlier, as it has been at least (two) months since the water was so high up there where we found it.”

Ms Bowley added the bottle travelled in a straight line from the pier to where it was found in Denmark.

“If you look on a map, it went on one straight line across the ocean, which is crazy,” she said.

Harry writing his message (Christie Bowley/PA)

“Harry said he thought his bottle would be found back on Sunderland beach, when his bottle was found he was happy and super excited.”

It was Ms Bowley’s partner and the children’s father who came up with the message in a bottle idea initially.

“He told them one day, ‘Should we write some messages in a bottle?'” she said.

“They were really excited and so we ordered some bottles from Amazon and we even tested them to make sure they would not sink and could float.

“They even came with little scrolls inside which they wrote the messages on.”

Harry also sent a picture in the bottle (Frederik Bilgrav Schramm/PA)

Harry’s note read: “To whoever finds this bottle, my name is Harry Liddle. I am 5 years old from Sunderland, England.

“Please can you let my parents know when you find this bottle via Facebook or email.”

The message was followed by Ms Bowley’s contact details and signed off with the words ‘Thanks Harry.’

Harry also drew a picture, which was included inside his bottle.

Grace’s note was similar to her brother’s.

Grace getting ready to throw her bottle off the pier (Christie Bowley/PA)

Ms Bowley said family members and friends were “in shock” when they discovered Harry’s bottle had been found.

“A lot of people have even said now they want to try it,” she said.

“We genuinely never thought the bottles would ever be found, it was just something fun we wanted to do with the kids, but we always hoped they might be found.”

Ms Bowley said it is a “waiting game” to see if Grace’s bottle can one day be found.

“Grace’s bottle is somewhere out there floating in the sea, so it is just a waiting game to see if it could be found,” she added.