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Trail of coincidences
From the Swindon Advertiser, first published Thursday 28th Jun 2001.
THE discovery of a deflated balloon in a hedge has sparked off an amazing series of coincidences for ten-year-old Laura Buxton from Milton Lilbourne, near Marlborough, and her namesake who lives 140 miles away in the Midlands.
The tale of the two Lauras began when Andy Rivers, of Milton Lilbourne, was checking cows in a field and found a balloon in a hedge.
Closer inspection revealed the balloon said "Happy 50th Birthday" and had a label on it with the name Laura Buxton and an address near Stoke on Trent.
Mr Rivers knew his neighbours Peter and Eleanor Buxton had a daughter called Laura so gave the balloon to them.
That was the start of the discovery of a series of coincidences involving the two girls who live a three-hour drive away from each other and are not related.
Laura, ten, who goes to Kingsbury Hill School, Marlborough, obeyed the instruction on the balloon tag which said: "Please write to Laura Buxton."
She was surprised to get a telephone call from the other Laura, who is nine and also an only child.
The girls discovered they shared more than a name and just a few months difference in age.
They are both fair haired, in Year 5 at primary school, have black three-year-old female Labrador dogs and have a rabbit and a guinea pig each.
By an even greater coincidence the grandparents of Laura, from Stoke on Trent, Terry and Margaret Buxton, are currently travelling the Kennet and Avon Canal and were moored at Wootton Rivers.
The girls are now hoping to meet one day and the Milton Lilbourne Buxtons have invited their Midlands namesakes to visit them in the Pewsey Vale.
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