Royal Mail harks back to Henry VIII

At the June meeting of the Bognor Regis Probus Club, member and speaker Colin Hopcraft gave a detailed history of the Royal Mail from Henry VIII's Master of Post in 1516 to the present day and spoke with pride of his family's involvement over several generations.

His own 40 years of service covered a diversity of appointments from Coventry to Milton Keynes, Banbury to Oxford, Birmingham to Didcot and on two occasions he found himself out of his comfort zone in Southend and Aldershot.

This wide experience of all elements of the Royal Mail gave a clear insight into the incredible structure which enables a delivery to be made to every address in the country every day except Sunday, a day on which only collections from some post boxes are made.

The Bognor Regis Men's Probus Club meets in the Royal Norfolk Hotel every third Wednesday of the month except August. For further information call secretary Wilf Archer on 821388.