Vintage recordings of The Hobbit (1937) by J.R.R Tolkien have been unexpectedly uncovered on a Tyne and Wear Metro line in Newcastle upon Tyne. The discovery occurred during routine track renewal work when maintenance crews came across a set of cassette tapes buried at the base of an overhead line mast.

The tapes contain a dramatised BBC radio adaptation of the beloved novel, The Hobbit, which originally aired on BBC Radio 4 in 1968 and was later released as a boxed cassette set in the late 1980s. The radio series’ narrator was voiced by Anthony Jackson, while Paul Daneman voiced Bilbo Baggins.

The complete story is included in the discovery, making it a highly sought-after discovery.

Metro operator Nexus described the find as “far from the usual objects” encountered during maintenance projects.

The recordings were located by Rob Cochrane, Head of Infrastructure Works Delivery, during an inspection of track replacement works between Chillingham Road and Walkergate.

“We were just walking next to the Metro line when I saw something out of the corner of my eye at the base of an overhead line mast.

“When I went over to have a closer look, I could just see the gold front cover of the cassette box underneath the ballast. I dug around that and all four tapes were there, and you could see straight away what they were, as they had ‘The Hobbit’ written in black lettering on the front cover of the box.

“It’s an incredible find and certainly not the kind of thing you expect to discover when you’re out working on the track.”

Rob Cochrane, Head of Infrastructure Works Delivery.