Another Reason not to go into Town

Tomorrow is the last date for Christmas first class post.

A month ago, with the post, we received this picture of a brassed off Nicholas Lyndhurst lookie-likie. It's yet another reason *not* to go to the post office. This home pick-up service has been available, apparently, since October 2020 and with it the royal mail has joined the crowded market place to fight its way into parcel collection.

I well remember the time I called into the post office at least once a month and usually more often. This was before email (so we needed stamps) and before we could pay our council tax and utility bills by direct debit or online. Renewing vehicle excise duty was an added annual occurrence and you even went in to renew your driving licence—at the 12 year renewal. Do you still need to do that?

I do wonder whether Huw Hilditch Roberts knew, at the time he purchased Rhuthun/Ruthin's post office, that we'd have no Nat West or Barclay's banks in town. The income generated from former bank customers isn't high per transaction but without them I also wonder whether there is sufficient footfall to retain the post office. If people who currently send their Ebay merchandise cotton on to home pick-up rather than post office visits then that's a further blow. 

I hear you ask, in recent times, how often have you visited a post office? 2019's visits bar one were actually in Dinbych/Denbigh. 

DATE	PURCHASE
January 2018	1x 2nd class stamp
January 2018	Deposit into Nat West account
March 2018	1 x 1st class stamp
December 2018	Christmas stamps and parcel post
April 2019	2 x 2nd class stamps
June 2019	2 x 2nd class stamps
September 2019	1 x 2nd class stamp
October 2019	Postage for small packet
December 2019 (two visits)	Christmas stamps and parcel post 1 x 1st class stamp
December 2020	Christmas stamps and parcel post
December 2021	Christmas stamps and parcel post

This Christmas, we spent £75.24 at the post office. This was our only visit this year. Included was a lightweight packet to the United States and that alone accounted for £18.10. The present inside was only worth £25. We expected the cost of postage to be about £10. We have decided in future to abandon Royal Mail for such gifting and instead to use Amazon, who deliver internationally and at half that price. What gave us that idea? We received a return present from the people in the States to whom we sent ours... not by post but by Amazon. 

Not posting locally means that we will no longer buy locally. This Christmas' stateside package included a mayoral calendar of Rhuthun and a mohair scarf from Wayfarer.

Finally, the number of cards we receive *without* a royal mail commemorative Christmas stamp is also on the increase. I'd say about half of those we receive have a standard blue definitive. This suggests that we are less inclined to visit our post offices and instead buy our stamps in booklets from our supermarkets. So, that's another knell tolling for our counters and their staff.