ALAN Carter was intrigued when he found an old photograph under the floorboards in his century-old home.

The picture of a young woman is thought to have dropped out of sight soon after the house was built and to have been there ever since.

Now Mr Carter, of Wytham Street, South Oxford, is on a mission to discover the name of the woman and details of her life, and is appealing to readers to help.

He writes: “I have been doing up a bedroom at our house and moved a couple of floorboards to get rid of a large gap by the skirting board. Underneath one, I found this photograph, covered in grime. The floorboards hadn’t been lifted since the house was built in 1906 and googling the name of the studio which took the photograph, I found it was in business in London in 1906-07, with branches around the South East including Reading. I assume the photograph dropped down the gap soon after the house was built.”

According to the deeds, the house was built by a retired sea captain, who lived there until the 1930s.

Mr Carter addstells me: “I would guess the woman in the picture was in her 20s and, judging by the elaborate design of her dress, fairly well-to-do. It would be fascinating to know if anyone can shed any light on who she was. The reverse of the mount shows the name of the photographic studio and some writing that I can’t fully decipher, although it looks like ‘Dear May’ at the top and possibly a signature at the bottom.”

Can anyone shed any light on the mystery? Write and let me know.