A COPY of the Stroud News and Gloucester County Advertiser from 1949 was found in a fascinating time capsule discovered in a cottage in King’s Stanley.

Builders found the capsule - which included a rolled-up copy of the paper - in a wall cavity at The Cottage in Church Street while carrying out damp proofing.

It had been placed there by Frederick Barnes, who lived at property until he died last year at the age of 86.

In a letter found in the capsule, he writes that when he moved into the house in 1948 there was no hot water system and the bath was in the bedroom with only a worn out gas geyser for hot water.

He built a partition to divide the bedroom and bathroom and decided to use the opportunity to place a time capsule in the cavity.

"This partition was started during the month of November and will be completed in the New Year," he writes.

Builders from Gloucester-based Aquacure handed the capsule to Mr Barnes' son Peter, 61, who was amazed at the discovery.

"It is just such a remarkable find," he said.

At first, he thought the capsule might be stuffed with money, or contain a collection of war medals. But when Peter found the letter and newspaper, he realised his father left it to mark the fact that his life had changed for the better since the war years and he was now living in his own house.

"I expect he was celebrating, because it was the best Christmas since the war," said Peter, a retired draughtsman from Cainscross.

At the time the letter was written, Peter was three-months-old. Frederick had another son, John, aged 21 months at the time, and was married to Irene.

Mr Barnes was a Lancaster bomber pilot with the RAF, based in Lincolnshire, and moved to Stroud three years after the end of the Second World War.

The front-page headline for the edition of the paper, dated December 30, read ‘Best Christmas ever since the war’ and Forest Green Rovers featured in the sports news. The paper merged with the Stroud Journal in 1957 to form the SNJ.