A ROOFER from York has made an unusual find with a connection to his own family on an historic city centre building.
Luke Redhead who runs JLR Roofing and Property Maintenance said he was working on a roof at a sandwich shop at the back of Shambles in Newgate with his team when they came across a green glass bottle cemented into the roof.
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But he never expected to find a 40 year-old note from his own grandad inside.
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"When I first saw it I had a range of emotions to be honest," said Luke.
"There was a definite sense of pride - it was a proud moment.
"We have maintained the roofs at the site for a number of years and always knew there was a bottle with notes stuffed inside, bedded into the cement haunching.
"On removing and opening the bottle it became apparent most of the notes were just old church newsletters and abit of life advice -"Keep smiling!" it said.
"Amongst the tat, one note read: "The tiler who laid these tiles, George Redhead, is a York resident born and bred", dated 1981.
"The late George Redhead senior, my grandad whom I unfortunately didn't get chance to meet, had re-roofed the roof more than 40 years ago.
"We have now bedded the bottle back in to its rightful place, original notes inside and one extra from The JLR Roofing team and it could be in there for another 50 years."
Luke said his grandad left subtle marks wherever he worked, be it a bottle with a note or a trowel mark in a gable end.
"I look forward to finding more as time goes on," he said.
Luke is the third generation of his family to work on roofs in York and North Yorkshire.
His dad, John Redhead followed in George's footsteps and worked as a roofer for many years, but sadly John died after the motorbike he was riding crashed with a tractor near Whitby in 2019.
Luke said he was joined on the day of the find by his team, Andrew Thorbinson, his uncle, George Redhead, Jonny Lambert and Max Neal.
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