In 1952, postman Harold Hestletine wrote an article for the Post Office Magazine, recalling his 20 years as 'the official messenger from Santa Claus'.

Harold was a rural postman from Hawes, in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales. Shown in the picture below with his faithful companion Sandy the dog, Harold travelled nearly twenty miles a day by bicycle, delivering mail to families in hamlets, farms and cottages.

With this gruelling delivery round, it is understandable that Harold preferred a 'green' Christmas to a white one. Luckily for him, he could only recall one truly white Christmas Day in 20 years, as the thick snow made his journey difficult.

Harold's Christmas delivery story emphasises the importance of the postman at Christmas.  He remembered how "over a dozen children used to come bounding down the hill to meet me in the mornings of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day shouting 'what have you brought us from Santa?'"

He was also welcomed into each home as a member of the family:

"I think of the days when the cake was not allowed to be cut until the arrival of the postman on Christmas Day so that he could have the first piece… Oh yes, I had many pieces of cake and glasses of wine before I arrived back to partake of my Christmas dinner with my family."

Illustration

Postman Harold Hestletine