A tragic teen's heart-breaking note that he hid to 'remind him of happy times' four years before he was killed in a motorbike accident has been discovered and reunited with his family - almost 50 years later.
Nicky Martin, 32, found the note written on a piece of cardboard and stashed under skittles in an old bowling alley while knocking down the Lord Nelson Pub in Bristol.
The note was written by Gary Wait in March 1975 and described how he was working to 'stick up' the knocked down skittles aged 16 to pay for his moped but was hiding the note so that 'someday he might find it and read it'.
In a bid to reunite the note - which is believed to have remained there untouched for the next half century - site manager Nicky took it home to his wife Leanne, 33, who set out to find the writer on social media.
However Julie Tucker, 64, got in touch with her to say the note was written by her brother Gary, who was tragically killed in a motorbike accident four years later.
Julie and Nicky had an emotional meeting when she went to pick the note up along with the skittle that it had been hidden with.
The letter says: "Gary Wait wrote this letter on 8.3.1975. I am 16, I am pretty tall, I have blue eyes and dark blonde hair.
"I came down here, The Lord Nelson, three times a week to stick up. I had one pound a night.
"I wrote this so someday I might find it and read it. I am doing this job so I can pay off some money I owe on my moped. I got £117 to pay.
"My favourite uncle is Tony Wait. He's the one who helped me when I was in trouble with my bike.
"I am going to hide this so if I find this it will bring back some happy times."
Gran-of-four Julie, who moved to Weymouth with husband Terry, 65, in 2003, happened to be visiting family in Bristol when she saw the note on a local Facebook page.
Julie said: "I was flicking through Facebook and saw it but the penny didn't drop straight away then I thought 'hold on, is that my brother?'. I recognised the handwriting immediately.
"It was written four years before he died. It's been there all that time and I would have been walking past it for years.
"I've no idea why but he'd written the names of our uncles, aunties and cousins down the side of the note.
"When it clicked, I felt emotional and more than upset. I wasn't expecting it, it was so surreal.
"I commented on the post and Leanne sent me a message and I went to pick them up the next day.
"I didn't think it would be emotional but it was, I started crying and we had a nice hug. He was lovely. I took some cider and chocolate because I couldn't turn up with nothing.
"A lot of builders wouldn't think twice about it and just throw it away.
"I feel really protective over the note."
Sadly, Gary had passed away in a motorbike accident alongside Terry's brother, David, who was 19 at the time.
Both of Julie's parents have also passed away and the retired admin worker says she wishes they were around to see it.
Julie said: "It was horrendous when they died, our parents were never the same again. They weren't the parents we grew up with.
"I sometimes wonder what I've missed. No sister-in-law and no nieces or nephews.
"There were only 15 months between us so we were really close."
Nicky had been knocking down the alley as the pub is being replaced with flats. He took it home to healthcare assistant Leanne who shared a photo of it on Facebook.
Leanne said: "Nicky came home from work and said I'd never guess what they found at work and explained it to me. I wanted to try and get it back to whoever wrote it because they said they wanted to see it again.
"It was really sad when I found out Gary had passed away because I was hoping for a happy ending but it's amazing that Julie has the note.
"I thought the note was really cute, it was really sweet. Gary said he would like to see it again so I thought it would be lovely for him to see it again.
"Julie was ecstatic to see it and so emotional. Social media is amazing, every time I go on Facebook I get goosebumps and well up. It's just lush."
Julie says the note has brought back a flood of memories and people she hasn't spoken to for years have reached out to her.
Julie said: "I've been in touch with people whose names I haven't seen for years. It's brought back so many deep memories. It's nice in one way but its been so emotional.
"I've been in touch with a girl who I used to work with so we're going for a coffee.
"It was wonderful in the 70s. It was a real community and nobody locked their doors."
