Can you solve Hartlepool mystery surrounding vintage voice record discovered in Edinburgh?

A vinyl enthusiast who was born in Hartlepool was sorting through boxes of old records he had collected from Edinburgh about five years ago when he stumbled across a 78rpm voice record – on which people would record messages – addressed to a man from his home town.

The 59-year-old collector, who now lives in Suffolk, believes the recording may date back as far as the First World War and hopes someone locally may be able solve the mystery.

The record is addressed to a Captain and Mrs E Goodridge at 38 Milton Road, Hartlepool.

Research by the collector, who does not wish to be named, suggests that Captain Goodridge’s first name was Edwin and that he may have served in the Navy as a chief engineer.

He or perhaps a relative with the same name may also have been a prisoner of war during the Second World War.

The record enthusiast, who used to live in Seaton Carew, said: "It just seems curious that the record is addressed to someone in Hartlepool and that it ends up with someone from Hartlepool after all this time.

“I had the opportunity to collect a lot of old records from Edinburgh about five years ago and just stuck most of them in my garage at home.

"We are thinking of moving so I finally started to look at them a little more closely and discovered this voice record in an unopened envelope addressed to an address in Hartlepool.

"It doesn’t look as though it was actually ever sent although, judging by most of the other records I collected at the same time, it probably dates back to 1914.”

The collector, who attended Hartlepool’s former Brinkburn Grammar School, added: “I don’t have a gramophone player from that time so I don’t know what the message says.

"But it would be interesting if anyone in Hartlepool knows more about the record, the story behind it and how it ended up in Edinburgh.”

Anyone who can solve the mystery is urged to email [email protected].

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