Thieves dig up Wigan schools' time capsule buried 23 years ago

A concrete slab in a footpath marked where the two capsules were placed by pupils from St Catharine’s and St Patrick’s primary schools in Scholes.

They had been there since November 1995 and were thought to contain photographs, letters from the youngsters and other items they thought might interest people years later.

But last weekend the concrete slab, which was on a walkway behind St Patrick’s Church, was removed and a hole left where the capsules once were.

Barbara Nettleton, chief officer and director of nearby Sunshine House, was horrified when she found out about the theft.

She said: “It’s stupid. I don’t know what they were thinking. It beats me why they would do it unless they thought there was money in it or something valuable.

“It’s valuable to the children but there wasn’t anything of monetary value in it.”

Mrs Nettleton believes the time capsules may have been buried as part of a housing development being built at the time.

She suspects the capsules were taken by an adult due to the weight of the concrete slab covering them.

She said: “They would have had to use something really heavy to get the stone out.”

She appealed to the thief to return the items.

She said: “There are school children’s letters and photographs and you can’t replace that.

“If you have still got it, please bring it back anonymously.”

In the meantime, Mrs Nettleton has plans to create a new time capsule.

She said: “We are not going to let whoever has done this win. We will see if we can find out what was in the capsule and put some stuff together for a new capsule.”

She hopes to set up a group to work on the project, which could involve people who were among the children who put the original time capsules together.

Anyone wishing to get involved with the new time capsule can contact Mrs Nettleton at Sunshine House on 01942 820026.