Message in a bottle found in Normandy ten years after being tossed into sea at North Berwick

Back in 2010 when Katie Berwick dropped her message in a bottle off into the sea at North Berwick beach, Gordon Brown was still in Number 10, Kasabian were riding high in the charts, and Barbara Windsor was making her final EastEnders exit.

Fast forward ten years and Katie was stunned to hear that her little bottle had spent a decade bobbing around the North Sea before safely making it through the world’s busiest shipping lane and then coming to rest safely on one of the D-Day beaches in Normandy, Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer.

Patrice Colasse, one of the French locals who is a part of the beach cleaning team, initially got in touch with now 22-year-old Katie to enquire about the note in the bottle.

After receiving photos of the handwritten message, Katie initially could not remember sending the letter ten years ago.

Katie Morag , who put the message in the bottle and set it off.

“However, after phoning my mum about this all, it did bring back memories,” she recalled.

She then discovered the letter was in fact hurled it to the sea when she was 12.

Despite it being so long ago, talking about the letter really brought her back to her childhood and Katie was delighted to discover her message has been received.

The idea came from when she was in primary school and her class were asked to complete a message to put into a bottle.

The message - when found - that Katie Morag popped in a bottle..

As she enjoyed this activity so much, Katie decided to make one at home and toss it into the sea.

Quickly forgotten, Katie never expected to see the bottle again.

Now it has turned up, preserved after ten years in the waters of the North Sea Katie, a teacher, said: “Honestly I enjoyed it so much that if the lesson got my class interested then it would be a lovely concept to do.

“If I remember correctly, I began explaining my age, where I was from and also my family, my mum, dad and pet dog Ben.

A bottle containing a rolled paper thrown into the sea by a 12-year-old Scottish girl is found in France.

“After including some other facts about me – most likely favourite colour and food – I wrote about my friends.”

Katie said: “Before getting the message about the bottle, I completely forgot about writing this letter and sending it off.

“So, for it to be found, let alone me being contacted is unbelievable.

“The strangest thing is that my surname is actually Berwick – but due to having people in my class with the same name and also same initials, I would often write Katie Morag ensuring the teacher knew it was my work.”

Katie is known on social media as Katie Morag and, had she not changed her name on Facebook, news of the letter may never have gotten back to her.

She has now been invited to St Aubin after lockdown to meet the people who found her bottle during a beach clean.

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