A Letter From Your Postman as delivered by Roy Mayall

A little book written by a real postman about the changing face of today's postal service. Why the Royal Mail is not as it once was.

Introduction to Roy Mayall

Roy Mayall is a real postman.. He has been on the job for 30 years and seen a lot of changes in his time.
In Dear Granny Smith (A Letter From Your Postman) we join Roy as he vividly describes some of his working experiences both the good side and the bad side. We learn how a once happy traditional job is being spoiled by "modernisation" and "Team Talk" meetings in which nobody talks and there is no team.

Dear Granny Smith as written by postman Roy Mayall

A postman's life as described by Roy Mayall

Dear Granny Smith comes in the form of a short book of 120 pages, published appropriately by Short Books. It represents Roy Mayall's "letter of apology for everything that has gone wrong with the Royal Mail."

It is dedicated to "all the old posties who still care."

Roy describes how until recently the postie's lot was a happy one. Yes, it could be very hard work, and yes, you might be out in all sorts of weather, but there was job satisfaction both for you and for the customers and the public at large.

We all have seen the children's TV character Postman Pat. Well, yes, the postman has traditionally been a friendly face and an essential part of the community. The postman has been someone who provides a link with the outside world for many old people who live on their own and cannot get out much, the postman has been a sign of everything being OK in the crazy world - a friendly face who stops by every morning with letters, postcards or birthday cards perhaps. Something to look forward to, someone you can trust.

But the postman’s job has changed a lot and it is not a change for the better. Nowadays a large part of the postman's mail that has to be delivered is junkmail. Mail that is junk, mail that the postman hates delivering and that the receiver throws straight in the rubbish bin! A waste of time, money and paper!

Advertising potentially makes money and that is what is important now - making money. The postal service is not about having happy staff and a happy local community. It is all about making money and time equals money.

The Royal Mail, as it once was, is under threat from all the changes and the modernisation and the greed of those at the top. Roy knows that the Great British postal service as it once was might well become a thing of the past and that is a depressing thought.

However, he feels that all is not lost yet. That there is still a chance for the Royal Mail to be saved. Despite the odds, Roy Mayall is still optimistic, still the cheery postie!

Dear Granny Smith is a book with a difference. Join a real British postman on his daily delivery rounds and, at the same time, take an insider's look into the real world of the Royal Mail.