When Charlotte England-Black and her husband moved into their new home five months ago, they expected to find the usual odds and ends in the attic — a few dusty boxes, maybe an old chair or two. What they didn’t expect was a secret message from the past, written on the side of an empty toilet paper roll by a little girl more than three decades earlier.

The discovery came last Friday, as Charlotte was sorting through items in the loft of their home in Nottingham, England. Nestled among an old sink, a vintage cap, and some worn overalls, she spotted the cardboard tube. In bright red marker, a neat, childlike hand had written:

“My name is Emma Waddingham. My birthday is February the 4th. I was born in 1982. I’m seven years old and nearly eight. I hope you enjoy staying here. Lots of love, from a friend.”

The message was dated 1989, left behind when the little girl was moving out. To Charlotte, it felt like a time capsule — a simple, heartfelt greeting from someone who had once called this place home.
“It was really cute,” Charlotte said. “She’d obviously written it hoping someone would find it one day. It really is quite touching.”

Curious about where Emma was now, Charlotte turned to a local Facebook community page to try to track her down. The response was immediate. Within ten minutes, someone had tagged Emma, while others chimed in with memories of her from the street. In less than an hour, the mystery was solved.

Today, Emma’s last name is Smith, and she still lives in Nottingham. Now 43, she has no memory of writing the note — or why she chose a toilet paper roll for her message — but she smiled at the thought of her younger self leaving such a keepsake.
“I don’t remember doing it,” Emma admitted. “We’ll forever be wondering. But it was a lovely place to spend those years. I had amazing wallpaper in my bedroom of Tom and Jerry.”

For Charlotte, making contact with Emma has been a reminder of the human threads that run through the walls of every home. “It’s just a connection with the past,” she said. “I thought she could be found easily, and it would be nice for her to know it was discovered.”

And the story doesn’t end there. When Charlotte eventually moves out, she plans to leave the cardboard tube in the attic again — so the next family to live there might experience the same unexpected moment of joy that she did.