A person who was an “avid stamp collector” as a baby has moved from Florida to Scotland together with his spouse to run the world’s oldest publish workplace.
Barry Ford has taken over Sanquhar Submit Workplace in Dumfries and Galloway, which has been in steady operation for 311 years.
Mr Ford, initially from Lincolnshire, and his spouse Mary, from North Lanarkshire, had been dwelling and dealing in Florida for 20 years once they first heard the publish workplace was on the market three years in the past.
He had an plane detailing firm in Lakeland, cleansing plane for personal homeowners, however the couple have been hoping to purchase a enterprise again within the UK as their aged moms there have been unwell.
They put in a suggestion and have been pipped to the publish, however had a second alternative to purchase the enterprise when the sale fell by way of – and are actually solely the seventeenth operators of the world’s oldest publish workplace.
The couple have been additionally delighted to find that Mrs Ford’s ancestors have been from the close by Muirkirk space in East Ayrshire.
Mr Ford mentioned: “It’s wonderful that I’ve gone from dwelling in Florida for 20 years, the place the historical past is generally nineteenth to twentieth century, to turning into the postmaster for the world’s oldest publish workplace which dates again over 300-plus years.
“I used to be an avid stamp collector as a baby and to find that Mary’s ancestors have been from the native space was destiny.
“To be given a second alternative to purchase the Sanquhar Submit Workplace got here on the proper time when our aged moms had sadly handed away.
“Mary and I are very excited and humbled to be serving this neighborhood, and we additionally sit up for welcoming vacationers from each close to and afar who come to Sanquhar to pattern the delights this vibrant neighborhood has to supply.
“I’m additionally proud to be this publish workplace’s seventeenth postmaster, which is not that many contemplating its lengthy historical past.”
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Former postmistress Nazra Alam
The publish workplace opened in 1712 and is recognised by Guinness World Data because the oldest one in operation.
The second oldest in Stockholm opened in 1720 – whereas the third, in Santiago, Chile, opened in 1772.
Mrs Ford found her connections to the native space whereas sorting by way of her mom’s possessions, and located a pair of knitted gloves with a Sanquhar sample.
She determined to additional examine her household tree and found that her ancestors got here from across the Muirkirk space.
Mr Ford, who served within the RAF, has taken over from postmistress Nazra Alam, who had run the publish workplace since 2015 alongside along with her late husband, Dr Manzoor Alam, who handed away in November 2022.
She has now retired and is returning to the Midlands, the place she lived earlier than transferring to Sanquhar.
Submit Workplace chief government Nick Learn mentioned: “As a nation we ought to be so proud to have the world’s longest-running publish workplace. Simply 16 earlier operators have stored it going for greater than 300 years.
“Not solely does it help the broader financial system by attracting vacationers from everywhere in the world, however it continues to supply on a regular basis important banking and postal companies that native residents, like wherever else within the nation, depend on.”
The publish workplace is a well-liked attraction for postal and philatelic fans from throughout the UK and the world, and lots of go to to have their letters marked with a particular handstamp bearing “The World’s Oldest Submit Workplace”.
