Items found decades after being left on city walls

6 August 2025

Seb Cheer & Joanita MusisiBBC News, Yorkshire

News image — A 10p coin and note written on a cigarette packet were placed under Bootham Bar's lead roofing during drainage work in 1979

City of York Council A 10p coin on a piece of paper, next to a note with torn edges. Faded pen writing on the note reads: "J. Summerville, plumber, 182 Bishopthorpe Road." — A 10p coin and note written on a cigarette packet were placed under Bootham Bar's lead roofing during drainage work in 1979

Items hidden by an apprentice 46 years ago at Bootham Bar in York have been discovered during conservation work at the site.

A 1979 cigarette packet, pack of cards and 10p coin were left in the roof of the landmark on the city walls by Mick Colley when he was 16 years old and working on drainage repairs.

Mr Colley, who now works for Network Rail, said it was not unusual to deposit such items "as a nod to the future".

"Seeing it again after all these years brings back memories I hadn't thought about in decades," he said.

The objects were found earlier in the year by an apprentice stonemason who was carrying out conservation work as part of a project to preserve the city's walls.

Mr Colley and a friend, Jack Summerville, had left the cigarette packet with their names written on it, "to see if it ever came back".

"The cards and note were in a really good condition so it shows we did a good job," he said.

City of York Council Three men wearing hard hats and orange high-visibility clothing stand on a building site. One hands a cigarette packet to another, who is smiling. — Mick Colley (right) said it brought back good memories to be reunited with the note he left on a cigarette packet in 1979

Pete Kilbane, deputy leader of City of York Council, said the discovery was a "tribute to the generations of skilled workers who've cared for our city's heritage".

"We're proud of the craftsmanship that's kept York's walls standing, and grateful to those who continue that legacy today," he added.

Liam Dennis, ancient monuments manager at the council, said the history of the city walls "stretches through all the periods of York".

He added that the walls "may be my happy place".

"The connection I can have to heritage and being able to say that we're caring for this for future generations is just fantastic."

The stonemasons working at the site plan to replace the coin and cigarette packet in the Bootham Bar roof when the work is completed, alongside their own memento.

Mr Dennis said: "There might be a team photo going in with names on the back of it so next time somebody has to replace the roof structure, there we'll be."

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