Royal Mail Workers Vote For National Strike

[Oudeis]

valk,

Here is an idea for you.

If there is a strike and there are old-folk in your neighbourhood why not drop a 'Merry Xmas from your neighbour' card into their letterbox?

Me and my candles. :)

[valk]

We always give cards to our neighbours Oudeis, we all grew up together we have had the same milkman and the same postie for years so the elderly are not forgotten.

We are all getting old now.

[marilyn]

Talking of Royal Mail - do we still get a second post??? I'm reading a book (The Needle's Eye by Margaret Drabble) and the heroin is waiting for a special letter which doesn't arrive and she's hoping it will be in the second post; hence the question

[valk]

We only get one delivery usually junk mail, books and stuff seem to come from private delivery companies.

[Oudeis]

Marilyn,

No, not for ages now.

Many of these novels speak of the fourth delivery of the morning and such. I think this is all long before the time of the Royal Mail and mainly aimed at the upper classes. I do not think there was any sort of Ye Olde Spam, or leaflets for the general public.

What the Royal Mail still is is local. Many of it's competiters have but few depots where you could go to pick-up parcels etc. If the RM were to go we would each have to have a secure box on the door step for 'white-van-man' to drop of large items.

[marilyn]

Thanks - the book was written in 1973 - I don't remember when second delivery stopped. The Post Office here in Australia uses contractors to deliver parcels etc. No letters dropping on the doormat here, we all have mailboxes at the front of the house close to the sidewalk and the postie comes around on his moped and stuffs everything in and anyone could come around after him and take it out again if they wanted to.

[valk]

I had a mailbox once and it was lockable, we got rid of it cos neither of us liked going down to the gate in the cold to get the mail.

[Oudeis]

Marilyn,

Little did I realise just where you are talking from.

Is it still the Royal Mail with you? The penalties are very very severe for any interferance with the Mail. The whole book is thrown.
I have tried to Google as to when the second delivery was stopped, no luck.

[Oudeis]

valk, you are still A-OK with me. :)

[Barryoneoff]

Seems that it wasn't as long ago as we thought. It was only 2002 that it began to phase in.

Dateline: LONDON Britain's beleaguered postal delivery service said Wednesday it will save 350 million pounds (dlrs 539 million) a year by abolishing its twice-a-day mail service and charging customers extra for letters delivered before 9 a.m.

The Royal Mail said that beginning Monday 14 parts of the country would receive only one mail delivery a day, instead of two. The service plans to extend that change across the country by October 2003.

The company said at present the second post accounts for about 20 percent of delivery costs, but only carries 4 percent of Britain's mail. Slashing the second post would reduce traveling costs and make the struggling service more ...

[marilyn]

That was recent = thanks Barry

Oudies - no, it's not Royal Mail here, it's Australia Post. I think it's probably by Eastend roots makes me wonder why the outside letterboxes don't get broken into much!! I hate emptying them, always think there's a spider waiting to pounce

[valk]

I don't blame you Marilyn, our spiders are friendlier than your spiders.

[marilyn]

I was a brave soldier last night Valk - there was a huntsman (spider about 3 inches diameter ) on the cornice in the corner of my bedroom. It was late and I couldn'tbe arsed to move everything and get the spray out and decided to bite the bullet. I kept waking up in the night to check it was sitll there (and it was) but this morning it was gone and I'm wondering where to - hopefully the cats will find it before it gets me!!!

[valk]

Blimey! you were brave, I don't mind Spiders in fact we had a big hairy one as a pet and called him Boris, I am sure I wouldn't be so blase' with the ones you have in Australia.

[marilyn]

The huntsman aren't venomous apparently (but they do bite) - they eat all the other nasties so handy to keep around - I still haven't seen him again - hope I didn't swallow him in my sleep