A LETTER hidden in a house 72 years ago for its future owners to discover has seen the light of day.

The note, hidden behind wooden panelling in the Middlesbrough house, asks the present occupants to “be kind to this little house”.

The letter was written by an Ethel Brunton on February 7, 1938, and found by Andy Thompson, as he renovated the house.

Mr Thompson, 46, of Linthorpe, said: “I was taking down the panelling in the dining room and it landed on the floor. When I read the letter, it put a lump in my throat.”

The letter explains that in 1938, the home – in Edmundsbury Road, Linthorpe – was owned by the Bruntons, a couple who had been married for two years, and who had a one-year-old son named Michael.

Despite the tissue-like quality of the blue paper, Mrs Brunton’s neat handwriting can still be read.

Mr Thompson, a father-ofthree to Hannah, 20, Connor, 13, and Jacob, nine, is now hoping someone will be able to help him return the letter to one of Mrs Brunton’s relatives.

It reads: “Whoever takes off this panelling, perhaps will be interested to know who it was who had it put on.

“T’was my husband and myself, Alfred and Ethel Bruton, whose first home this is.

The joiner who did the work was Mr Albert Headley a personal friend of ours.

“We have just been married two years and have an adorable baby of one year, and four teeth. Name Michael Edward.

“Television is still in its infancy and there is an open common behind our garden. I wonder what changes there will be when you, who find this epistle in the year _____.

“Whoever you are, we wish you well, be kind to this little house, where a young couple have lived, loved and been happy.”

Signed: Ethel Brunton (wife) Alfred Brunton (husband) Albert Headley