Britain’s longest-serving postman recalls delivering turkeys in Christmas post during 60 year career

Robert Hudson, known as Rocky, Britain’s longest-serving Royal Mail postman, has shared his memories of delivering turkeys, kippers and last-minute Christmas gifts over his 60-year career. The 76 year old from Leyton, east London, began his Royal Mail journey in December 1964 at the age of 16, starting as a telegram messenger in the Whitechapel Delivery Office, braving all weather conditions on his motorcycle.

At 18, the father-of-nine transitioned to an outdoor role as a postman, carrying his parcels in a sack on his back through Poplar’s streets, a job he “loved every minute” of. He fondly remembers hand-delivering unusual Christmas parcels in the 60s, including turkeys “wrapped up in brown paper or a cloth with a leg sticking out”, salmon, kippers and cream, and witnessing the joy on people’s faces as they received last-minute gifts from loved ones.

This year, Rocky will complete his final shift on December 28 at the London Docklands Delivery Office, where he has spent the past 40 years working night shifts, a schedule that allowed him to care for his three young children following the sudden death of his wife, Sheila, aged 26, in 1980.

Rocky, looking forward to retirement, expressed it will feel strange but he’s eager to “relax”, dedicating time to his garden and family, including his granddaughter – British Paralympic archer Jessica Stretton. The first order of business after retiring, according to him, is to deactivate all of his alarms.

“I’m the longest-serving union member, the longest-serving postman in England and I loved every minute of it,” Rocky shared with PA Real Life.

“We often wear Santa hats and go around at Christmas, seeing the look on the kids’ faces when you’re at the door is so nice. ” He also reminisced saying, “People used to say, ‘here comes Father Christmas’.”

Reflecting on the festive workload, he noted, “The amount of work we get around Christmas is incredible, it’s so busy, but you push through and get it done – there’s nothing left behind.”

Rocky began his tenure with the Royal Mail in the Whitechapel Delivery Office back in December 1964 when he was just 16, starting out as a messenger biking through Limehouse, Poplar and the Isle of Dogs on a motorcycle to deliver telegrams.

“When you’re 16, you start as a messenger on a little red motorcycle delivering the telegrams, I loved doing that, that was lovely,” he recounted. In an era before mobile phones, telegrams were essential. There were no phones in 1964, the only way of communicating with someone was to send a telegram.”

He proudly stated, “I went down to Poplar and the Isle of Dogs – that was my area and I covered every bit of it,” and shared he delivered a gamut of telegrams, from celebratory notes to messages of condolence. I’d deliver quite a lot, most of it was information, ‘contact me as soon as possible’, that sort of thing,” he shared. “You had to get through it whatever the weather, you were committed to it.”

“The priority and urgent ones, they had to go out and it didn’t matter it if was snowing, you had to deliver those ones.” At 18, Rocky transitioned to an outdoor role as a postman, delivering a variety of peculiar packages every Christmas.

“You had some weird things come through there at Christmas, really weird things,” he recalled. “At Christmas, you used to get turkeys coming through wrapped up in brown paper or a cloth with a leg sticking out the bottom and you had to take that round to someone’s house. ”

“You used to get salmon which had to go out, cream from Cornwall, Norfolk kippers. They were marked up as perishable and they had to go – you had a commitment and it had to go that day.”

He also remembers delivering last-minute Christmas gifts to those in his area. “It was fun, all the presents wrapped up,” he said. “It’s nice to knock on the door and see someone’s smiling face.”

In the past, postmen had to carry their parcels in a sack, according to Rocky. “In the past, you had to carry it all on your back with a sack which was heavy,” he explained. After a decade of door-to-door service, Rocky switched to night shifts at the London Docklands Delivery Office.

Rocky has shared his poignant story of how he took on night shifts to raise his three children after his wife tragically passed away from a brain haemorrhage in 1980 at just 26 years old. “I started nights when the wife died, I came home from work one day and she was in the passage, she was only 26,” Rocky recounted.

He explained the practicality of his decision: “I had little kids to bring up on my own and the night shift was the only way I could sort of get round it.” He detailed his routine, saying, “I didn’t start until midnight so I could be there with them right up until then, get them in bed, tuck them in, shoot off to work, come home again at 7am in the morning and get them up to go to school. “It worked out absolutely perfect.”

For four decades, Rocky dedicated his nights from 11pm to 7am to preparing and organising delivery trucks for the next day’s dispatch, even during the hectic Christmas period, where he said, “It’s very, very busy at Christmas and some offices struggle – I managed to keep my one running.”

His long service with Royal Mail led to a memorable encounter with royalty, as he met King Charles III when he was still the Prince of Wales. “I went with some other guys who had also done 50 years and met him at the Houses of Parliament. That was nice, we shook hands and had a chat.”

To celebrate an impressive 60-year tenure and his retirement, a party was held at the Docklands delivery office on December 7, marking the exact date he began his career in 1964. Looking forward to his well-earned rest, Rocky shared his immediate plans: “The first thing I’m going to do is turn all my alarms off. I’ll finish building my shed down the garden and do some maintenance things.”

Rocky also plans to spend some quality time with his children and grandchildren, including his granddaughter and British Paralympic archer Jessica Stretton, who won gold at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

He said his last official day at Royal Mail on December 28 will be “strange”, but it is an achievement he is proud of. “It’s going to be a big change but that’s fine, it’s time to go, I’ve done 60 years and that’s enough,” he said.

“It’s an achievement and I’m really proud of it. “In his advice to his fellow postman, he added: “Keep up the good work, stick with it and enjoy it.”