A crew of construction workers was able to discover a time capsule that contained a variety of items from the late 1800s, including a bottle of what seems like whiskey.
The staff of construction and infrastructure firm Morgan Sindall were working on the Ruthven bridge, which is located near Kingussie in the Cairngorms, when they found a container about the size of a shoe box. The crew, who were then working under a Highland Council contract to replace a bridge, discovered the metal tin containing trinkets from some 121 years ago.
When the box was opened, it was found that it contained a folded newspaper dated September 1894, a paper scroll and a bottle of what could be whiskey or some form of alcoholic beverage. Unlike wines, however, the taste of bottled whiskey does not get better as time passes. A delicious scotch, for instance, possesses that 18-year-old great taste because it is contained inside a barrel, not in a bottle. The said bottled whiskey may still be drinkable, though.
All the items were donated to the Highland Folk Museum located in the nearby Newtonmore.
"It is fascinating to think these items have been sitting in the bridge's structure for 121 years," said Robert Ogg from Morgan Sindall. The circumstances that have taken place since the time capsule was placed in the said bridge are extraordinary. People used to think that the bridge was utilized by horses, giving the sense of a bygone era.
The idea of creating a time capsule and letting the future generation become aware of what life was like in the past is something fascinating.
According to Ogg, the company has started collaborating with Kingussie Primary School to create their own time capsule, which they hope would last similar to the recently discovered one.
The bridge where the time capsule was found is a single-track road that runs the stretch of the River Spey and connects the B970 to Kingussie and the network of the trunk road. The bridge construction project is said to cost about £622,000 or more or less $964,000 to replace the old bridge. The crew, however, will restore some of its old parts such as the stone masonry abutments and piers as necessary. The project is expected to come to its full completion during the latter part of 2015.
Photo: Freddie Phillips | Flickr
