THE story of the search for a stonemason who left a message in the walls of a historic castle in Chester has a happy ending.
The writer of the note left his name, Martin Goulding, and added that he worked as a stonemason and was aged 25 when he left the note on August 21, 1964, during the building of a new toilet block.
That block has reached the end of its functional life and, during restoration work, the note was found.
The note in the matchbox
After an appeal, staff at Beeston Castle managed to find Martin and invite him to the castle to thank him for his handiwork.
Returned to what he considers his "spiritual home", surrounded by friends old and new, Martin was welcomed back to site, where he met Chris Gibbs from Stone Edge who found the note and reunited with colleagues from 55 years ago.
Martin Goulding with Chris Gibbs
A Beeston Castle spokesperson said: "To our surprise, traditional word of mouth and local history enthusiasts traced Martin a day before Facebook!
"Happily Martin has accepted our invitation to carve his mark on the renovated WC block alongside the contemporary craftsmen, continuing his legacy from 1964.
"At the beginning of our search we didn't realise this tiny time capsule would delight so many. In true English Heritage style, a glass of elderflower wine was raised to toast the historic occasion.
"Thank you Mr Goulding."
Martin reunited with colleagues
It was Stone Edge’s Chris Gibbs who found the matchbox containing Martin's note.
Chris said: “It was amazing to find it. The modern 1960s wall was coming down in big chunks and something just caught my eye. I couldn’t believe it. Finding it is one thing but it’s all the more remarkable to find the actual man who put it in there, some 55 years ago.”
Martin was asked to leave his mark on the new toilet block for future custodians of the historic site to discover.
Martin Goulding
Martin said: “It’s been absolutely brilliant to be back here. It’s brought back some old memories, and I’ve met some old friends and made some new ones. I never dreamed when I put that in the wall 55 years ago that we’d be back here reminiscing more than half a century later. I encourage everyone to pay Beeston Castle a visit. It’s a fantastic spot, and I consider it my spiritual home.”
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