A message in a bottle written by two teenage girls from Maidstone more than 40 years ago has prompted international contact after it was found washed up in the Netherlands.

The faded note was inscribed by Natalie Smyth and Nadine Warren, both '15 and-a-half' at the time, and sent from Dungeness on July 10, 1979.

It asks the recipient to send any reply to Bedgebury Close in Vinters Park.

And now, one of the women who wrote the note all those years ago has told KentOnline the story of how a Dutch family got in touch.

Miss Smyth, now 56, said the bottle washed up months later in 1979 in Westkapelle in the Netherlands.

The note was kept safe by a woman for all these years, but when it was discovered by her son, Roger Woldenberg, during a home de-clutter he suggested harnessing the power of social media to see if he could find the people behind it.

Mr Woldenberg messaged another Natalie Smith from Maidstone, asking if she was one of the girls who sent the message.

It wasn't her, but Ms Smith posted a picture of the note on Facebook, in the hope the Natalie Smyth in question could be found.

Miss Smyth, a former Maidstone Grammar School for Girls pupil, said at first she struggled to remember the fateful day the message in a bottle was sent on its way.

She added: "After a while, I remembered that me and Nadine were on a geography field trip to Dungeness and Rye. And I do have a memory of us throwing plastic bottles into the sea.

"I cannot remember if doing this was part of the trip - to see how currents move - but it's possible we were just being rebellious and doing it. If that's what it was, I feel a bit embarrassed now given how polluting we now know plastic to be.

"It feels amazing to think someone held onto that note for 40 years and I certainly didn't expect any of this attention."

"It feels amazing to think someone held onto that note for 40 years and I certainly didn't expect any of this attention."

Miss Smyth grew up in Wateringbury and went to the now-closed Nettlestead Primary School. She now lives in Oxford, where she is head of catering at St Anne's College at Oxford University. She moved away from Maidstone in 1982.

She added: "I remember Nadine living at Bedgebury Close in Vinters Park, but I believe she has since emigrated to Canada."

The Facebook posts have also led to Miss Smyth re-making contact with several of her school friends.

She added of her school days: "Some of us were quite rebellious in class and the world has changed since then. Back then, university education wasn't available for all, if you did well, you tended to go to college or a polytechnic.

"And Maidstone has changed so much. The Royal Star Arcade has now replaced the Star Hotel, and business and industry used to be by the river, rather than shops and flats."

The remarkable discovery has prompted a look back at what life was like in 1979.

A time of disco dancing, flares and punk rock, there was also plenty of serious stuff going on.

Some of the most notable news stories of the year included Margaret Thatcher being elected as Prime Minister, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in America, and the continued bombing by the IRA in England.

In popular culture, the general knowledge quiz game Trivial Pursuit was launched and the first modern bungee jump was tried out by a group of Oxford University students.

Protests and strikes were rife across the country. The public sector workers strike in January was the largest strike to take place in the UK for 53 years.

If you peeked inside someone's Walkman - which also came out in 1979, a major success for Sony - you'd likely find a Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson or Blondie tape. For film buffs, Rocky II was released as well as sci-fi hit, Alien.

Teenage girls would be seen wearing cute pinafores, pleated skirts or flared jeans, in bold shades of orange, green and brown.

Plenty of mohawks and pierced tongues could also be spotted on the more outlandish youngsters, as the punk era took hold.

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