Construction workers from the Morgan Sindall company on duty at the single-track Ruthven road bridge near Kingussie in the Cairngorms of the Scottish Highlands discovered a metal box that had been hidden in the bridge's structure. Upon opening it, they found it was a time capsule containing newspapers and other materials dating back to September 1894.
Among the items was an unlabeled glass bottle containing an amber liquid believed to be whisky. If so, The newspaper, whisky, and other artifacts are more than 120 years old.
However, for those who think they can get a swig of a century-plus-old whisky if they get their hands on that bottle, think again. According to the Scotch Whisky Association, once a whisky is bottled, it doesn't actually age anymore.
"So even if you keep a 12-year-old bottle for 100 years, it will always remain a 12-year-old whisky. As long as the bottle is kept out of direct sunlight, the Scotch Whisky will neither improve nor deteriorate, even if it is opened," the association stated on its website.
Robert Ogg, of the Morgan Sindall construction company credits the find of the time capsule to the construction workers and says the discovery really tickles the imagination about history and the bridge's significance.
"It is fascinating to think these items have been sitting in the bridge's structure for 121 years. The changes which have occurred since it was placed there are extraordinary. If you think that the bridge was being used by horses back then, it gives you a sense of the time which has passed," he said.
Coincidentally, the company had also been in talks with Kingussie Primary School to create its own time capsule to put in the bridge as it is being repaired and upgraded. It is hoping that its own time capsule will last just as long as the one from the 1800's and will also be discovered in the future someday.
The time capsule has been donated to the nearby Highland Folk Museum.
The bridge, which spans the River Spey, is undergoing a £622,000 construction project to replace its superstructure. But the historic stone masonry and piers will be retained and repaired even as the bridge is updated.
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