Tuesday 11 January 2022

Poste Restante

So there I was, sewing, and watching Robert Powell in "The 39 Steps" last week, and he went into Strathallan Post Office to pick up a letter which was "Poste Restante"

PR means "remaining post" - if you were travelling, and did not have a fixed address, you could arrange for your post to be delivered to a designated Post Office, and then collect it on your arrival in that place. It remained there till you went in and asked for it

Do they still have PR? I wondered. Well, yes, they do. Royal Mail will keep post for up to 14 days, and surprisingly this service is free. 

I think some of my outgoing post has been resting/remaining somewhere. All Christmas cards were posted on December 12th - but some have yet to arrive, and one got to its destination in Hampshire on January 6th [last Thursday] Where was it all that time? 

Nearly half a century ago, when I was a student, cold winter Sundays often followed a regular pattern. Off to church, followed by a visit to the call box to ring Mum and Dad, then lunch. I'd spend the afternoon in my room, listening to music and writing letters. 

Then I'd put on my coat and walk up the road to the postbox, and then come back for tea. I sometimes went to church in the evening, and met up with friends afterwards for coffee. They were good days - I didn't do any uni work on a Sunday if I could possibly help it. And of course, during the week, the postman would bring replies to the letters I had sent.

I have decided to look again at how I communicate with people. I love the immediacy of WhatsApp, when Liz or Steph send me a picture of my grandchildren playing in the middle of a busy day. I like being able to exchange emails with friends and family. It is fast and inexpensive. Twitter and Facebook are more public, and I'm not particularly diligent about keeping up with those, but it is great when someone posts some news, or sends something to make me think, and to bring a smile. I'm in a couple of FB support groups, and these are good.

But a real letter, in an envelope, slipping through the letterbox - now that is good communication. A pretty card, with a personal message inside, a photograph of a new baby, something to show that someone has given thought and care. These are treasured [usually ending up as bookmarks- to bring happy memories months later when I rediscover them]

On Sunday, after church, we went for a walk in Waterloo Park in Norwich. It was so sunny - the place was full of small children learning to ride their bikes. We had a snack lunch in the cafĂ©. Delicious, good value, and run by a local not-for-profit charity [details here]
Then we came home and had a cuppa. Bob put some music on the record player. I wrote three letters, and walked round the corner to post them. I hope they arrive soon and bring joy.
My grandmother used to quote this [but she would say 'Sabbath' not Sunday!]

Now my Sundays are less busy, perhaps I should try to write more letters then.


19 comments:

  1. A lot of boaters use PR though not all post offices still offer the service. I don't use of as I use my daughter's address.

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  2. The U.S. Postal Services will hold your mail for you if you notify them that you will be away from your home for several days (uncollected mail in the mail box being a sure indication that there's no one home and an invitation to thieves) and they will forward your mail if you change your address; but, I don't know if they will forward your mail to another post office to be held there for you! Back when I was at university, I would write a weekly letter to my parents who were in Hong Kong at the time; international phone calls were too expensive! My step-father saved all my letters - I found them in a file folder, after his death! I didn't save any of their letters to me, though!

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    1. I wish I'd kept all the uni letters my parents sent me.

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  3. I love looking back on letters too! I just wrote my old work colleague Lucy one to go with her belated Christmas present and birthday! I always enjoy writing and receiving letters from my penpal Katie. They are always so entertaining! Plus we write on the back of old Christmas cards or packaging! We have even been recycling the same orange bubblewrap envelope repeatedly for about 10letters!!

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    1. How long has Katie been your penpal? I'm impressed by your recycling

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  4. I also noticed that post has been taking longer recently. One card posted within the UK took over 2 weeks to reach me. Like you, I embrace newer methods of communication, especially WhatsApp and Zoom, but real letters are still the best.

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  6. We currently have a parcel not so much restante as vibrating between different post offices in the Netherlands. Have you heard about https://www.postcrossing.com/ I want to join as it is sending random postcards to people and getting them in return. I think that sounds like an amazing way of spending a Sunday.

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  7. We have also received a Christmas card that was posted on the 18th of December on the 29th of December, for some reason some post is taking much longer to arrive. I like receiving letters and still write to my cousin in New York, she is 93 this year and to my mother-in-law. As a card maker I also send Just a Note and Hello cards, some happy mail is so good to receive. Helen S.

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    1. My aunt is 93 and still writes lots of letters

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  8. Receiving a letter through the post is an undoubted delight, and one which is becoming less common. But the frequency of communication with our grown up children (two of whom live abroad) that is possible nowadays and being able to chat with our grandchildren via WhatsApp video calls is a blessing. When I was a child I used to write to my grandmother in Switzerland but I never got to meet her.

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    1. Yes WhatsApp is a blessing - especially during the added separation caused by COVID. I am sorry you never met your grandmother in person.

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  9. I sent a Christmas card to a friend who has lived in the same house since 1987 and it was returned with a snooty sticker saying that she had probably moved. She hadn't moved at all, but I think a new postal worker must have seen that the address only read RR#1 plus the village and postal code as usual, and felt that it should have had the civic address - house number and road name. I sent it again correctly. On rare occasions we also get mail addressed to "RR#1", but like my friend we are also in a small community and known, having lived in the same house for 31 years.

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  10. I'm amazed my letter got here so efficiently, but very grateful to our postie

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  11. I still have all the 'Blueys' (very lightweight folded letters that were a cross between Airmail and the Pigeon Post foldables) that my son sent me when he was stationed in Iraq during the war. They bring back memories of a scary time but one that we chatted on paper and occasionally via email or phone more than we had ever communicated before.

    The parcels that I was able to send him via BFPO took me back to a more postal friendly time too.

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    1. They must be very precious to you. I have letters and cards my girls sent when they went off to Uni. Sometimes the correspondence can deepen a relationship in a way that face to face chats can't. BFPO is a vital service for service personnel and their families

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