Mr Bumby was joined by the school’s current head Dale Norris, the village residents’ association chairman Simon Huntington and school council members to retrieve the box from it location at Millennium Viewpoint, Hillings Lane – a site in Hawksworth village created to mark the year 2000.
The dig was attended by former pupils representing most of the school years from 2000 to the present day, plus a number of parents and former staff including Jean Airey and Kevin Rushfirth who both spent a lot of their careers at Hawksworth Primary School.
Villager Dorothy Pickersgill, whose two older children were at the school in 2000, said: “It was a bit of a struggle to open the box but when done there was definite signs of water damage but some items were unscathed including an empty Skips crisp packet, a toy car and a Hawksworth C of E pen.
“Some items that had been drawn/written by the children were not in too bad condition and it was thought some others that were stuck together might be ok when dried out.
“Overall it was agreed by all that it had been an interesting and happy event. Although it is felt it is not worth reburying most of the time capsule contents, the current school staff think it would be nice if Hawksworth 2025 pupils were to prepare a time capsule.”
A bench near where the capsule was buried Millennium Viewpoint, Hillings Lane, is due to be refurbished soon by the village.