Watch as children's message in a bottle at Hendon beach is found by a family in Denmark after North Sea crossing
“We were really excited when we found out our message in bottle had been picked up by a family in Denmark”
The words of Sunderland children Ivy-Rose Eggleston, 8, and her brother Hilton Eggleston, 5, after a message in a bottle they had dropped in the North Sea off Hendon Beach was picked up by a family from Germany who were holidaying on the Danish coast.
The children, who attend Farringdon Academy, wrote their letters and placed them in their bottle to be thrown into the sea on August 1 (2025).
The siblings were “amazed” when eight weeks later their mother, Chloe Laws, received an email, photographs and video from a family located in Denmark.
The bottle had been picked up from a beach in the Danish coastal town of Fjaltring, some 386 miles away on the other side of the North Sea.
Ivy-Rose said: “We went down to the seaside to throw the bottle and message in the sea. It was fun to do, but I didn’t think anyone would find it and it would get lost at sea.
“I was really excited when my mam said it had been found.”
Hylton added: “I threw the bottle as far out to sea as I could. I was really surprised when my mam told me the bottle had been found.”
Mum Chloe Laws, 34, decided to involve the children in the ‘message in a bottle’ activity to “give them a fun activity to do over the school summer holidays”.
She added: “The children wrote their names and my contact details on the message and asked for anyone who found it to get in touch, but we didn’t really expect it to happen.
“It was nearly two months since the children had throw the bottle in and I had pretty much forgotten about it.
“I was checking my emails as I had just renewed my car insurance, when I suddenly saw the email with the heading ‘message in a bottle’.”
The mail was addressed from a gentleman by the name of Jens who wrote: “My name is Jens and I found your message today in Denmark. We are from Germany and are on holiday in Fjaltring, near the beach.
“And today there was a surprise washed onto the shoreline - your bottle - how nice. I have sent you some photographs, but we have also made a video showing us opening the bottle, if you would like us to send it to you?”
Chloe asked Jens to send the video which she watched along with her excited children.
The video shows Jens and his family using a knife to scrape away the sand which had built up in the bottle following its mammoth journey. Struggling to remove all of the sand, Jens uses the knife to cut through the plastic bottle and access the message inside.
Despite many weeks at sea, and the obvious water damage, the writing on the message was still legible, including Chloe’s email address.
The families have remained in touch and exchanged further messages following the initial contact
Ivy-Rose said: “I definitely feel like we now have a connection and it would be nice to meet them.”
Chloe added: “If Jens and his family are ever in England or we are in Germany then it would be nice to meet up.”