Times are changing – former postmasters Brenda and Tom English at the old Great Haywood post office in Trent Lane, which moved to the Spar Shop in Main Road, Great Haywood. It had traded in Trent Lane for 106 years
Wolverhampton’s post office, in Lichfield Street, closed and moved to the Nisa Local Store
(Thank you to Express and Star for their photos and coverage of this issue)
“Once the post office closes, it’s lost from the high street forever. If the private company that has taken the post office into the shop closes it, then it’s gone forever.
“It’s taking the post office off the high street and putting it into the back of convenience stores. They hope to get a footfall increase in their shops.”
Sound familiar? We had a post office in the Red Apple. When the Red Apple closed, the post office closed, too. Now we have a privatized service which doesn't seem as busy--people don't linger as long.
Click here to read about the evolution of post offices from the centre of the high street to the back of the shop in the midlands region of England. Some of these post offices are over 100 years old.
"Since April 2012, decisions have been made to relocate or refurbish 72 branches in areas of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire and the Black Country – with further proposals on the table for others.
A total of 17 post offices have either closed or been earmarked for closure following public consultation, with some yet to move."
Are post offices just an anachronism? Going the way of dinosaurs?What do we need in our neighborhood's center to keep it's heart beating?
1 comment:
Yup, the PO has traditionally been the center, and the informal meeting place, for the neighborhood (which in its modern enormous form has superseded the former unit, the village). No PO = no center. On the other hand, youre rght, if the mail is used only for receiving bills and junk mail, and all your posting can be handled electronically or (for packages) by private carriers (UPS/FedEx) then perhaps the PO really is outdated. Hmm.
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