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Bottle from 1800s among vintage litter found

Eleanor Maslin
BBC News
David Martin/Grantham RiverCare A clear thin-necked bottle with mud on it being held up. An inscription on the front reads "Imperial, Pick & Company, Westgate, Grantham."David Martin/Grantham RiverCare
David Martin/Grantham RiverCare Close-up of an old Diet Pepsi can being held up. It has rusty spots all over it with "Diet Pepsi" written in blue and several red and blue lines below. It also says "less than one calorie per can" on the can.David Martin/Grantham RiverCare
RiverCare Grantham said it had found a bottle believed to be from a Grantham company dating back to the 1800s
A Diet Pepsi can from the 1980s was among the items found by Grantham RiverCare

A glass bottle believed to date back to the 1800s and other vintage litter has been found following flooding in Lincolnshire.

RiverCare Grantham volunteers discovered the items between 7 and 12 January along riverbanks and trapped in trees across Wyndham Park and Queen Elizabeth Park.

The bottle has an inscription on the front which reads "Imperial, Pick & Company, Westgate, Grantham". The group said it believed this referred to William Pick, born in 1813, who once operated a shop at 90 Westgate.

Sally Bird, programme officer for RiverCare Grantham, said: "These items show you in a very physical way that these materials don't break down or disappear if they are left in the environment."

RiverCare Grantham said it had roughly dated the items by looking at the brand designs and how they have changed during the years.

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