Red is the Postbox
The postbox on Yockenthwaite bridge had a new coat of paint last year and I hadn’t realised just how bright and ‘red’ it was until I took this snowy picture earlier today. It is a little worse for wear, but for a roadside postbox of over 60 years of age it’s probably not surprising. I only hope when it does eventually fall to bits that it is replaced because I can’t imagine it not being there.
Not too many years ago there was also a telephone box by the side of the bridge, but this was taken down in the 70s and moved a few miles up the road to Oughtershaw. I have yet to find a photograph of it at Yockenthwaite.
We don’t use the post box as much as we used to do because these days we run our ‘cereal’ business from Skipton, but even there, we tend to rely on technology to communicate with suppliers and customers and so use the postal service less and less.
It’s sad, but it also seems that people don’t write hand-written letters and send postcards like they used to do, and although I did send a postcard to a friend when we were away over the New Year, it’s the first one for quite a long time; in my defence we don’t do holidays very often, but I have no excuse at all for not writing a letter.
I have quite a collection of old postcards and find them fascinating, they provide a unique insight into our social history and a changing landscape, in fact every one tells a story. Before the widespread use of the telephone, they seem to have been used more like early text’ messages and were regularly sent on a daily basis by people on holiday to keep in touch with family and friends at home
Most of the older cards were produced by Valentine & Sons who sold their Company to John Waddington Ltd of board game fame in 1963, but there are one or two by J Salmon from Sevenoaks in Kent. Established in 1880 and one of the oldest postcard maunufacturers in the country, it notified its customers last year that it would be turning its presses off at the end of 2017; the reason, social media and the rise of the selfie!
Social media, technology…it’s not going to go away, and I wouldn’t want it to because we rely on it so much, but I’m certainly going to do my bit. One of my New Year resolutions is to make sure I write a letter at least once a month, and even if we’re not on holiday, I’m going to make damned sure I send someone a postcard!
You can of course write to us at any time either by letter, email or via social media, you’ll find our contact details on our website….we’d love to hear from you!