Alan Cleaver

A letter from another world.

While researching my book, The Postal Paths, I only found one ghost of a postman/woman. Spookily, it was a few yards from my Whitehaven home: A woman who handed sailors by the harbour a letter - but anyone foolish enough to take it was doomed to a watery grave 😱

Fog bound footpath

For St Piran's Day (patron saint of Cornwall), a memory of walking the Postman's Path at Cawsand, Cornwall two years ago (in May!)

A dwarf willow being held in the fingertips

Well, I never knew that: The smallest tree in the world is the dwarf willow which only grows up to 6cm high. 😮https://www.bbcearth.com/news/the-worlds-tiniest-tree

😁 It was the only bird picture on my phone! I don't know of a dialect word for blackbirds. Anyone else know?

A robin

Meanwhile in the Cumbrian dialect group on Facebook, the names for birds are being discussed: Spuggie (sparrow); Dykie (dunnock); Scoppie (chaffinch); Stuckie or Shepster (starling) #Cumbria #dialect

Map of the town centre of Whitehaven, Cumbria showing local place names.

#MappaMonday Whitehaven town centre in Cumbria UK showing local nicknames such as Tom Hurd Rock and Wheelbarrow Lane. #Cartography

Car parked on roadside with radio mast attached.

No rural postman has walked the Postman's Path at Shap, Cumbria, for 50 years, so it was nice to see it today still being used for communication. A chap had parked on this fell-top and erected a 30ft mast so he could speak via his two-way radio to a friend thousands of miles away in Namibia.

The lost art of letter writing bringing generations together In the hope of reviving letter writing, BBC North West Tonight has launched a pen pal project.

"A letter is a brilliant place to learn to write because you're not writing for a teacher, you're not writing for a competition, you're not writing for marks, you're writing to connect with someone." - Frank Cottrell-Boyce @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The footpath known as The Rack. Inset is Elsie Rowson in her postwoman's uniform .

It is #ShropshireDay (Feb 23), so here's the 11-mile postwoman's path at Stiperstones in Shropshire, which Elsie Rowson walked in all weathers until 1970. The picture shows a narrow path known as The Rack. where Elsie would 'lie on the wind' on blustery days. sproson.com/wp-content/u...

Compline - Lent 1 - BBC Sounds From St Stephen Walbrook, London, with St Martin's Voices.

If your life is feeling a bit shite at the moment, then bathe in 30 minutes of enchanting song from St Martin's Voices. Pure heaven...
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Me to Post Office Clerk: Can I check this parcel is 'large letter size'?
Clerk: (Puts parcel through measuring device). Yes - but only just. If it's going abroad you should probably send it as 'small parcel' just in case.
Me: So not a complex postal system at all 🙄

Leather bound journal and fountain pen.

A new blank journal from Classic Journal, a Lamy fountain pen full of Noodler's Ink, and plenty to write about!

I must give that one a go!

Probably not!

Amazon delivery van 'stuck on The Broomway after following GPS' HM Coastguard Southend says the van driver had been trying to get to Foulness Island.

The Broomway in Essex is the most dangerous footpath in Britain. It was also once regularly walked by a postman 😱. Only ever walk it with a guide.
BBC News - Amazon delivery van 'stuck on The Broomway after following GPS'
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Billy Watson's Lonning at High Harrington in Cumbria

"Ther’ cannot be annuder spot so private an’ so sweet,
As Billy Watson’ lonnin’ of a lownd summer neeght!"
- A 19thC Cumbrian poem celebrates the 'Lovers lonnin' known as Billy Watson's lonnin (= "lane') which still exists in Harrington #ValentinesDay
lakedistrictletters.blogspot.com/2015/03/bill...

Painted Valentine envelope

Valentine advice from 19thC Cumbrian postman Sam Hetherington: "Sometimes words written without any thought stick in the throat of those who receive them and tears are shed before they get them over; and like food which is badly cooked, it does them no good but harm.” #ValentinesDay

A draw would have been a fairer result for that uninspiring match.

Out in paperback on 12th March: The Postal Paths

I'm glad to report the paperback edition of my book, The Postal Paths is out soon - the 12th March (2026). You can pre-order here: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/post...

Finished this by @postalpathsguy.bsky.social today. Highly recommended. Interesting, informative and made me think I would love to be a rural postie. Although I would need to be able to listen to podcasts/audiobooks. And have some good waterproofs. None of which the heroes of this book had.

Indeed now corrected. Thanks.

Handwritten notebook

A couple of pages from the notebook I kept while researching The Postal Paths book.

A hiker on a footpath with Dentdale in the background.

I am slowly adding postal path routes in Britain to my micro-website with more details for those who want to walk paths mentioned in my book, The Postal Paths. The one pictured is Dent in Cumbria. Website: sites.google.com/view/postal-...

If ebooks are your thing then you will be pleased to hear that The Postal Paths ebook is just 99p (offer closes end of January)
www.amazon.co.uk/Postal-Paths...

‘I tried. I felt everything’: readers tell us how they would use their last chance to send a letter With the Danish postal service ending its letter deliveries, we asked what you would put in your final envelope

"I was here. I tried. I felt everything. And I left behind a whisper, just in case someone was listening." - Guardian readers reveal what their last letter would say:
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Thankyou. And your lovely card arrived this morning.

Illustration: Trina Schart Hyman - from Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales

A Merry Christmas to all you good folk. Thank you for supporting and helping me with the publication of The Postal Paths. And thank you to all posties for your good work, especially at this busy time of the year.
(Illustration: Trina Schart Hyman - from Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales).

The Postal Paths book

If you're still looking for a Christmas present for a postman/woman, a retired postie, someone who wants to be a postie or someone who just loves walking Britain's beautiful footpaths, can I recommend The Postal Paths by... er, well, me 😉?

What would you write in a very last letter and why? If you had the chance to write just one last letter, to whom would you send it?

Who would your last letter be to? And what would it say? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Supai, the only place in America where mail is still delivered by mule! The journey of the mail mules begins at Hualapai Hilltop, the trailhead leading down into the Grand Canyon. From here, the mules and their handlers embark on an arduous 8-mile trek along the Havasupai...

The village in the Grand Canyon, America, where the post is still delivered by mule...
share.google/PiioSHoqUGNu...