Village thanks long-serving postman

VILLAGERS have paid tribute to long-serving postie Alan Withey after years of work serving their community.

Residents in Newbold turned out for a special presentation to Alan last month, who is semi-retiring from his role.

Villager Sue Bailey said: “Alan’s done this area for 16 years come rain or shine. He even comes out when we get thick snow. Whenever he’s working, you never get anyone else’s mail.

“Alan’s always happy to have a chat with people. He parks up his van and does the whole place on foot. Some people just treat it as a job but Alan wants to help people and not everyone is like that.

“I organised a collection through Facebook and the parish magazine and I think we’ve raised about £300. Other people gave him presents as he came round – I know he got a bottle of whisky. A lot of people left notes with their donations too and I put it all in a cardboard box and covered it with biscuits so it’ll be a nice surprise for him.

“Alan came to the post office, where we presented him with his present. Quite a lot of the villagers turned out, but I don’t think he was completely comfortable – he’s not one for fuss or attention. But we just wanted to say thank you to him for all his hard work over the years.”

Alan is not completely retiring from his rounds, instead taking on part-time hours, meaning villagers will still get to see their favourite postie one day a week.