I tweet about Britain's postal paths (walked by rural postmen and women in the past) and other ancient paths, folklore, and the joy of handwritten letters. Follow me if you're of a like mind. Picture: Scottish postie Silver Beedie on her Highland route.

Guardian pleas for last letter ideas..

I've bought myself an early Christmas present - 'The Postal Paths' by Alan Cleaver @thelonningsguy ... appropriately enough, it's just arrived in the post!

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"Cleaver puts a human face to a largely anonymous role... With so many philatelic books to read, I rarely reread one. This book I shall revisit." - My thanks to @GaryLoew for this review of The Postal Paths in The London Philatelist https://t.co/ekG340yCIa

I'll be talking at @ArmittMuseum in Ambleside #Cumbria on November 25th (2pm) about postal paths of old and I'll include the story and route of Jean Brennand who delivered mail to farms from Ambleside up to the Kirkstone Inn in the 1940s. Book now at https://t.co/diJcLXmNzx

My thanks to Callum Clark of Why Read Me for interviewing me about The Postal Paths (available from bookshops). I mention the wonderful Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society during the interview and you can find out more at @letterappsoc. Video link: https://t.co/dMQr0TT0c3

My book, The Postal Paths, is not due out in paperback until April 2026 but Waterstones are now offering a 25% discount (until October 17) if you order in advance... https://t.co/Vz8ENGf3dJ

Bought this book at Borzoi Books in Stow-on-the-Wold today. Alongside the new collected Poems of Seamus Heaney. Only one of these can be read in bed (the other being too heavy to lift). Thank you @thelonningsguy and that excellent Indy, Borzoi @BorzoiBookshop.

I spent part of the summer of 1995, working as a Postie in Milton Keynes. I was blessed with many consecutive days of Sunshine and enjoyed it. And whilst I don't expect, #thePostalPaths by @thelonningsguy, to bring back memories, It's still how my day begun. #catsandbooks

I am going to take a break from social media for a while. I'll pop back with any important news (or pictures of really cute kittens), but in the meantime, thanks for your continued support and stay well - Alan.

Covid has finally gone (after six days). 😃

#Ambleside #Cumbria

* He is Man of Tin, not Tin Man. Sorry.

This is wonderful. Blogger Tin Man was inspired by my book, The Postal Paths, to work with AI to devise a board game on rural posties delivering mail. Chatty residents, bad weather, and rivers all challenge the postie. I hope someone manufactures this! https://t.co/PX0LSwzAAM

The film, The Edge of The World (1937) also weaves in island traditions such as Gaelic Psalm Singing, being bidden to a funeral and the island parliament.

For many years, people on St Kilda (an island off Scotland) used toy boats to (hopefully) take mail to the mainland. St Kildans gave up their harsh existence in 1930 and all moved to the mainland - an event that inspired the 1937 film, The Edge of The World. #PostboxSaturday

Hello old friend... 🙄

@thelonningsguy I have just finished this and absolutely loved it! Once I have returned my library copy I will be buying my own. Travelling over the Pennines recently in driving rain looking at the distance between the farms and cottages, I couldn't help but think of those sturdy rural posties.

I love #heritage, #letters, #volunteering & chatting 😊 - so, when invited to work with Jenny Duffy to co-host a podcast series on the letters, from the National Vigilance Association #Archive @Birthlink100 I said yes! @letterappsoc @thelonningsguy https://t.co/vbAjQiPmDv

I'm aboard the Windermere ferry #LakeDistrict and just passing the Crier of Claife - the only ghost to be recorded on OS maps. Perhaps best to give it a wide berth 😱👻 Letters from the Lake District: The Crier of Claife revisited https://t.co/0efLxN4iTi

On this day (Sept 16) in 1981, Postman Pat first aired. It was written by Kendal author John Cunliffe. The fictional valley of Greendale was based on nearby Long Sleddale. Here's the bridge at Long Sleddale which Postman Pat's van drove over at the start of each episode.