School friends open 1997 time capsule buried 22 years ago

Six school friends reunited to dig up a time capsule they buried as teenagers 22 years ago – and couldn’t believe how well they predicted how their lives would pan out.

Gemma Lynch, Emma Page, Sian McGreary, Gemma Albiston, Gemma Roughsedge and Katy Wynne were just 15 when they buried their keepsakes in 1997. 

They lost touch after secondary school, but Emma decided it was time to dig up the past and got back in contact with her old friends. 

Armed with shovels and metal detectors, the 37-year-old women returned to Helsby Hill, in Cheshire, this summer in search of their old memories. 

To ‘screams of joy’ they discovered pictures of their teenage crushes and some eerily accurate predictions about their future selves.    

The gang’s all here: Pictured anticlockwise Sian McGreary (closest to camera), Gemma Lynch, Emma Page, Katy Wynne, Gemma Albiston and Gemma Roughsedge.

The six should have been seven but one of the girls, Carmel (second from left) has lost touch with the group completely

The six should have been seven but one of the girls, Carmel (second from left) has lost touch with the group completely

Where's the 'X'? The six easily managed to locate the spot they had chosen to bury their capsule as it was a regular hang out for the group outside of school

Where’s the ‘X’? The six easily managed to locate the spot they had chosen to bury their capsule as it was a regular hang out for the group outside of school

They took their findings back to Sian’s parents’ home to reminisce with a bottle of prosecco.   

The collection of memorabilia featured posters of Peter Andre and copies of Just Seventeen with a young Holly Willoughby on the cover.

Remembering 1997 

Top UK song in February 1997: 

Ain’t nobody by LL Cool J 

Cost of a litre of petrol:

57.9p 

Average cost of a house:

£60,698 

Notable books:

First 500 prints of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone  

Bank of England’s base interest rate:

7.25% 

The girls also buried diary entries and hand-written notes predicting each others future lives, such as their careers and what sort of men they would end up with.  

Incredibly, the former Helsby High School students discovered they had managed to predict four of their future careers with pinpoint accuracy.

Emma, a primary school teacher from Kelsall, Cheshire, said it was ‘goosebumps’ moment when they uncovered the capsule they buried as teenagers.

The mother-of-two added: ‘I got the idea from Blue Peter. We were in Year 10 at the time so we were coming to the end of our school time.’

‘So I thought it would be a good idea to do a time capsule to capture our memories as friends.’

‘We buried it at the spot we would usually meet up on a Friday and hang out.’ The whole day was a rollercoaster of emotions and laughter.’ 

‘Everything is on social media now, no one writes letters anymore, people don’t print photos out as much.’

Here's one we made earlier: The group got the idea of making a timecapsule from an old Blue Peter show

Here’s one we made earlier: The group got the idea of making a timecapsule from an old Blue Peter show

Finding Mr Right: The girls wrote down future predictions about their life including what their 'ideal blokes' would look like

Finding Mr Right: The girls wrote down future predictions about their life including what their ‘ideal blokes’ would look like

The girls are pictured digging for the time capsule aged 15 in February 1997

The girls are pictured digging for the time capsule aged 15 in February 1997 

‘We had captured who we were at the time. We used to write little letters to each other, if one of us went into another lesson.’

‘We wrote things about each other and predictions and some of those were correct.’

The correct predictions included Emma becoming a primary school teacher and Gemma Albiston, working with animals as she went on to become a dog groomer.

Gemma Lynch was also touted as a teacher, which she was for 13 years, and the girls said Sian would become an office worker.

A solemn promise: The girls wrote themselves a short contract with stipulations on when the capsule could finally be opened

A solemn promise: The girls wrote themselves a short contract with stipulations on when the capsule could finally be opened

Mother-of-one Gemma Lynch, of Chester, who now works as a nursery inspector, said: ‘We were gobsmacked when we saw how accurate they were.’

‘Also I am getting married next week and one of the girls had drawn a wedding dress which is pretty much identical to the one I’m going to be wearing.’

‘About half a meter into the ground we hit it with our spades and we all started screaming because we couldn’t believe we found it.’

‘After carrying it down the hill, we took it to Sian parent’s house as they lived close by.’

‘We used tools to get it open and eventually we got inside, we then cracked a bottle of fizz open, had some nibbles and reminisced all afternoon.’

' A rollercoaster of emotions': As the women popped the cork on a bottle of prosecco more than a bit of fizz began to flow

‘ A rollercoaster of emotions’: As the women popped the cork on a bottle of prosecco more than a bit of fizz began to flow

The women pour over the diary entries and assorted posters peeling back through the reel of times gone by

The women pour over the diary entries and assorted posters peeling back through the reel of times gone by

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