Ghosts of Xmas Post
Posted: Tue 26 Dec, 2017 12:25 pm
For several years between 1966 and the early 70’s I used to sign up to work on the post at Xmas.
At Xmas 1966 I was “posted” to Bramley sorting office. After a quick introduction to letter sorting in the office I was assigned to the “mobile sorting office”. This was a single decker coach with most of the seats removed, a couple of frames for sorting mail installed, and the back of the bus full of bags of parcels. The driver and a couple of regular postmen to do the sorting plus 4 scruffy students to do the legwork.
I have to say the old posties were fun to work with and really looked after us young ‘uns while they taught us the ropes.
The official method of working was for the bus to park up and for us temps to hump sacks of parcels delivering to houses in a street then walk back to the bus. The weather was cold with snow and ice on the ground so the method of working was improved upon with the bus driving down the street very slowly and us hopping on and off delivering 1 parcel at a time as we crawled past each house. The posties never had to leave the warmth of the bus but did a brilliant job of sorting the individual parcels for us to deliver.
I was amazed how many people in those days had whole Scottish salmon delivered by post before Xmas. These were in poly bags, packed with ice, but unrefrigerated and quite a few of them had gone off pretty badly. They were so smelly that we hoped the home owners were out so that we could just drop the stinking parcel off in a porch or passageway with a note through the letterbox. I did feel a little guilty that some peoples Xmas dinner would be spoilt and resolved never to order fish through the post myself.
We delivered bags of post to quite a few firms. One I remember was Heidelburgers , nicknamed “Idlebuggers”. The posties knew all the local firms and offices where we would be offered hot drinks and mince pies. There was one firm where we could use the canteen for free. Thanks to our more efficient speedy method of sorting & delivery, keeping the bus moving, we had time to enjoy this seasonal hospitality.
I have to say this first experience of working on the Xmas post was the most enjoyable. In later years I was generally employed on sorting letters on a night shift in the Queens Hall. The old tram shed was used as a huge temporary sorting office, The only slight amusement was reading the coded messages written on the backs of envelopes, (NORWICH was usual for letters from Armley Jail) and playing cards during the breaks. I used to take a look at the desk where the poorly addressed or damaged letters and parcels were dealt with. I was surprised at the lengths these dedicated postmen would go to find the correct address or repair a damaged parcel.
Apologies to Charles Dickens for the title.
At Xmas 1966 I was “posted” to Bramley sorting office. After a quick introduction to letter sorting in the office I was assigned to the “mobile sorting office”. This was a single decker coach with most of the seats removed, a couple of frames for sorting mail installed, and the back of the bus full of bags of parcels. The driver and a couple of regular postmen to do the sorting plus 4 scruffy students to do the legwork.
I have to say the old posties were fun to work with and really looked after us young ‘uns while they taught us the ropes.
The official method of working was for the bus to park up and for us temps to hump sacks of parcels delivering to houses in a street then walk back to the bus. The weather was cold with snow and ice on the ground so the method of working was improved upon with the bus driving down the street very slowly and us hopping on and off delivering 1 parcel at a time as we crawled past each house. The posties never had to leave the warmth of the bus but did a brilliant job of sorting the individual parcels for us to deliver.
I was amazed how many people in those days had whole Scottish salmon delivered by post before Xmas. These were in poly bags, packed with ice, but unrefrigerated and quite a few of them had gone off pretty badly. They were so smelly that we hoped the home owners were out so that we could just drop the stinking parcel off in a porch or passageway with a note through the letterbox. I did feel a little guilty that some peoples Xmas dinner would be spoilt and resolved never to order fish through the post myself.
We delivered bags of post to quite a few firms. One I remember was Heidelburgers , nicknamed “Idlebuggers”. The posties knew all the local firms and offices where we would be offered hot drinks and mince pies. There was one firm where we could use the canteen for free. Thanks to our more efficient speedy method of sorting & delivery, keeping the bus moving, we had time to enjoy this seasonal hospitality.
I have to say this first experience of working on the Xmas post was the most enjoyable. In later years I was generally employed on sorting letters on a night shift in the Queens Hall. The old tram shed was used as a huge temporary sorting office, The only slight amusement was reading the coded messages written on the backs of envelopes, (NORWICH was usual for letters from Armley Jail) and playing cards during the breaks. I used to take a look at the desk where the poorly addressed or damaged letters and parcels were dealt with. I was surprised at the lengths these dedicated postmen would go to find the correct address or repair a damaged parcel.
Apologies to Charles Dickens for the title.