A person who was an “avid stamp collector” as a baby has moved from Florida to Scotland along with his spouse to run the world’s oldest put up workplace.
Barry Ford has taken over Sanquhar Post Office in Dumfries and Galloway, which has been in steady operation for 311 years.
Mr Ford, initially from Lincolnshire, and his spouse Mary, from North Lanarkshire, had been dwelling and dealing in Florida for 20 years after they first heard the put up workplace was on the market three years in the past.
He had an plane detailing firm in Lakeland, cleansing plane for personal homeowners, however the couple had been hoping to purchase a enterprise again within the UK as their aged moms there have been sick.
They put in a proposal and had been pipped to the put up, however had a second alternative to purchase the enterprise when the sale fell by way of – and are actually solely the seventeenth operators of the world’s oldest put up workplace.
The couple had been additionally delighted to find that Mrs Ford’s ancestors had been from the close by Muirkirk space in East Ayrshire.
Mr Ford stated: “It is wonderful that I’ve gone from dwelling in Florida for 20 years, the place the historical past is usually nineteenth to twentieth century, to turning into the postmaster for the world’s oldest put up workplace which dates again over 300-plus years.
“I was an avid stamp collector as a child and to discover that Mary’s ancestors were from the local area was fate.
“To be given a second alternative to purchase the Sanquhar Post Office got here on the proper time when our aged moms had sadly handed away.
“Mary and I are very excited and humbled to be serving this community, and we also look forward to welcoming tourists from both near and afar who come to Sanquhar to sample the delights this vibrant community has to offer.
“I’m additionally proud to be this put up workplace’s seventeenth postmaster, which is not that many contemplating its lengthy historical past.”
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Former postmistress Nazra Alam
The put up workplace opened in 1712 and is recognised by Guinness World Records because the oldest one in operation.
The second oldest in Stockholm opened in 1720 – whereas the third, in Santiago, Chile, opened in 1772.
Mrs Ford found her connections to the native space whereas sorting by way of her mom’s possessions, and located a pair of knitted gloves with a Sanquhar sample.
She determined to additional examine her household tree and found that her ancestors got here from across the Muirkirk space.
Mr Ford, who served within the RAF, has taken over from postmistress Nazra Alam, who had run the put up workplace since 2015 alongside together with her late husband, Dr Manzoor Alam, who handed away in November 2022.
She has now retired and is returning to the Midlands, the place she lived earlier than shifting to Sanquhar.
Post Office chief government Nick Read stated: “As a nation we should be so proud to have the world’s longest-running post office. Just 16 previous operators have kept it going for more than 300 years.
“Not solely does it assist the broader economic system by attracting vacationers from everywhere in the world, but it surely continues to supply on a regular basis important banking and postal companies that native residents, like wherever else within the nation, depend on.”
The post office is a popular attraction for postal and philatelic enthusiasts from across the UK and the world, and many visit to have their letters marked with a special handstamp bearing “The World’s Oldest Post Office”.
Source: information.sky.com”
