How can I start to describe our Postie Di, well, most of you will know her as the lovely person who delivers a smile along with your post every day.  Her generosity of spirt and warm nature makes her the sunshine in every day, even in a blizzard!  As we sat chatting in the tearoom area of the shop it was so obvious that she is entrenched in the area and its people, every customer who passed through either waved or called to her and she answered them all with their names and some friendly banter.

She has been delivering letters for 30 years having started in this area on April 5^th 1995 and she really loves her job. 

“I love my job!”

Just chatting with Diane makes you realise how fond she is of the area and of the people who live here, “I love the countryside around here and the people in it, they are not customers, they are all my friends”, she said, “I know nearly everyone by their fist names and have seen families come and go, children born, grow up, hear about their teenage years and see them wed and have their own little ones, we are just one big family really”.  

Hers is a big area starting at the top of Caldbeck and going all the way out to the Mungrisdale parish boundary.  She tells me of the lovely people who have helped her on days when she has been soaked through and has been lent dry wellies and warm socks, she loves her stop at the Hesket Newmarket Shop where she takes a break and has a cup of coffee with Diane and Andy and catches up with Ann and Pat on a Thursday.   

Here’s another Diane (as well as our Diane Scott in the shop) who goes the extra mile, always checking on folk and reporting back if there is anyone struggling or needs a message passing on.  She has helped so many who would otherwise have gone without by dropping off an extra pint or some bread and eggs to people who are isolated or can’t get out, she will take letters, get the stamps and post them, sometimes it’s just a two minute conversation that brightens the day for people as that gift of time is so precious and makes a massive difference.  “There are less letters now with so many people using emails and buying online so my workload has increased with parcel deliveries”, she tells me.  

I asked about negatives; she says the worst part of her job is when she sees condolence cards pouring in and knows she has lost one of ‘her friends’ which always makes her sad.  Of the weather and bad-tempered dogs, she says, “you just get on with it” her pragmatic attitude is what endears her to so many.

There used to be over 20 post offices in the area and we are now down to just four. “Since I started over eighteen post offices have been closed around here and villages have lost their heart with the closure of the Post Office and Village Shop.  “I’d be gutted if Hesket Newmarket closed”, she said and added that she thought the Shop Management Team and the community were doing a fantastic job of raising the funds to do it, “I’m very proud to be one of the first shareholders, the beauty of this shop and Post Office is that it is always welcoming and is easily accessible with lovely friendly staff who will go the extra mile”.  

A great Mum and amongst her other talents she is a sheep farmer and every year she takes some time off to help lamb their 356 ewes, some of you might have seen her on the television or in the newspaper with one of her sheep who made the headlines by producing five big live lambs.  Below: Diane and her son with their five lambs!