Postal paths

Postal paths span the length and breadth of Britain – from the furthermost corners of the Outer Hebrides to the isolated communities clinging to the cliffs of the Rame Peninsula in south-east Cornwall. As far back as the 1660s, postmen and women have been moulding and forging paths to deliver posts to homes across Britain, no matter how remote. A chance remark by a farmer about a postman’s path led Alan Cleaver on a quest to discover more about this network of lanes, short-cuts and footpaths in the British landscape. What he found, through his walks, conversations and painstaking research, was more than just beautiful scenery. It was an incredible, forgotten slice of social history – the remarkable tales and toil of rural postmen and women trudging down lanes, over fields, and even across rivers to make sure the post always came on time.