Castle Douglas postmaster Colin Wilson shares his story in Galloway People

His dedication and service to the community has become something of a legend in Castle Douglas.

So when postmaster Colin Wilson was named as Dumfries and Galloway’s High Street Hero many glasses were undoubtedly raised.

The accolade under the Scotland Loves Local scheme came in November, 2020, after he single-handedly ran the post office during lockdown.

Typically, Lockerbie man Colin is modest about the award – but admits it was a tough time, only made bearable by the knowledge he was helping people out.

“We have nine staff and I have a responsibility for their safety,” he explained. “I took it upon myself to put them all on furlough and ran the post office on my own for 16 weeks.

“That was hard going – I was knackered!

“It was mentally hard trying to keep yourself and the customers safe.

“And you always had this thing at the back of your head ‘what happens if somebody comes in with a gun?’

“I could have said ‘you know what, I’m shutting the shop’ – but then the town would not have had a post office.

“A couple of businesses told me later they would have closed if I had not kept going. They moved everything online and I posted their stuff out to customers. It was my duty to do it.

“And getting recognised in the regional competition was very satisfying.

“That was not the reason I did it – I just wanted to keep on providing the community with full post office facilities.

“My grandson Alfie was born in the middle of the pandemic. I was serving on the counter on my own at the same time as my daughter-in-law was in labour.

“When she phoned I shouted out ‘Yes! I have a grandson!’

“The lady I was serving was not really interested – all she wanted was her parcel posted!”

Now with partner Angela, Colin sadly lost his wife Lorraine eight years ago to cancer – not long after she set up a new venture in Dumfries.

“Lorraine was doing less time in the post office and always wanted to have a tea room,” he says. “We opened the Polka Dot tea room and gift shop in 2011 – it was a joint venture but Lorraine ran it.

“She only got three more years and I closed it in 2019. The cancer began with a mark on her shoulder. She went to the clinic and got it cut out.

“It was just a discoloured patch of skin but it returned in the same place.

“She had further surgery and this time they went deeper into her shoulder.

“Then she got wee black marks on her scalp and that was the cancer spreading. Lorraine was given a choice of palliative care or to take part in a new drug scheme in Edinburgh.

“It was an experimental American treatment which it was hoped would reduce the cancer which was now in her whole body.

“We decided that if it did not help her it might help others in future.

“After the treatment they found the main tumour in her body had shrunk by 33 per cent. But it was not killed and was still in her system. She was on the programme for a year and succumbed in October, 2014, two years after the cancer was first spotted.

“It was our silver wedding anniversary in September, 2014, and we decided we were not having anything.

“But we wanted to say thank you to friends and family who had supported us over the 25 years.

“So we held a fundraiser at the Woodlands Hotel in Dumfries in aid of the melanoma unit at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh.

“We raised £7,500 so they could use the money for whatever they thought best to help people who were suffering from the same illness as Lorraine.”

Colin, I learn, has given 28 of his 57 years to Castle Douglas Post Office in a career stretching back four decades.

It all began in 1982, shortly after he left Lockerbie Academy at 16.

“I was there until fifth year and started a job with CG Grieve estate agents in Dumfries, who had a branch in Castle Douglas,” he recalls. “Then I worked at the tax office on Brooms Road. It was just a temporary position collecting taxes but I quickly found out it was not for me.

“Those were the days of the YTS schemes and apprenticeships and full-time jobs were hard to come by.

“Then I saw a job advertised for the Post Office, applied for it, and got it.

“I did an eight-week training course at college in Lanark where I was looked after by experienced folk.

“There was a lot of learning on the job and I was shown everything about postal work – all the transactions you would face behind the counter.

“I started as a postal officer in Moffat for six months then was transferred to the main office at King Street in Dumfries.”

Big changes came in 1986 when the Post Office was privatised.

“It split into Royal Mail, Parcelforce and the Post Office, with its branches put into private hands rather than being run from a main head office.

“I was still staying in Lockerbie and after four years at Dumfries switched to Royal Mail at Carlisle.

“I worked in human resources as a recruitment officer going round the whole of Dumfries and Galloway and Cumbria interviewing potential postmen and women.

“There were stringent screening procedures – so the folk we interviewed were good quality people looking for work.

“I covered all the way from Stranraer to Workington and really enjoyed it.”

Meanwhile, Colin tells me how he and Lorraine Findlay from Forfar got together.

“Lorraine worked on the post office counter in Dumfries at the same time as I did,” he says. “It was love over a stamp book really! There were lots of young lassies on the counter.

“You were a young fellow yourself and you would help them with the balances in time for the boss coming round.

“Me and another bloke were vying for Lorraine’s attention. I got it – and we got married in 1989.”

A shake-up in the Royal Mail human resources department, Colin explains, led he and Lorraine down the road to Catle Douglas. “Things were getting centralised which would have meant a move to Glasgow or Manchester,” he says. “I took redundancy. I worked as a civilian clerk for a couple of years with Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary in the human resources department, recruiting traffic wardens, support staff and control-room staff.

“Lorraine was still working on the counter at Dumfries and in 1994 became aware of an opportunity for individuals to run the branch at Castle Douglas. We applied and were successful.

“It all worked out really well and meant we were able to stay in Dumfries and Galloway.

“Although we had experience in the Post Office we never had experience of being self-employed. But both of us were convinced we could make a success of it.

“When we took over three of the staff decided to stay and work for us which made the transition a lot easier.

“We brought new staff in too – but the hardest thing was not having holidays when we wanted. We were reliant on our staff to give us the time off. Before with the Post Office we had five or six weeks paid holiday a year But when we became self-employed you can forget that – all we got was two weeks in summer.”

The couple’s eldest son Ross was just over a year old when they took over at Castle Douglas then Bryce came along in 1996.

Taking the plunge to run Castle Douglas PO was a big step but Colin says the welcome from the community was first class.

“Both Lorraine and I were easy to get on with and the local folk were great.

“It was always our vision that there was no way we could sustain it as a post office alone.

“To begin with our income was 80 per cent from the post office and only 20 from the shop – all we had to begin with was a couple of postcard spinners and a small range of stationery.

“So we knocked down a wall to make the post office part of the shop and increased the retail range so now its 50-50.

“At the start all the bookkeeping was by pencil and rubber but computers changed things dramatically and things quicker. It was hard going but we could take time off and work different shifts to look after the kids.”

Colin clearly believes his job means much more to people than simply having road tax processed or parcels dispatched.

“It’s about wee Jeannie who never sees anybody for the rest of the week,” he says. “I have had folk in tears telling me their husband has got cancer.

“In this job you have to have a personality that shows a lot of empathy towards people – you are part of people’s lives.

“I would see weans in prams coming in who are now coming in with their own weans in prams!

“It is a privilege to serve this community and that’s what keeps me going. I have had fantastic staff over the years and fantastic customers.

“They are really lovely people who want to support the post office.”

Keeping an eye out for folk is one aspect of the job not written into Colin’s post office contract.

“You get to know elderly people well because you are seeing them every week,” he explains. “And if you have not seen them for two or three weeks I would try to find out if they are alright.

“Or sometimes you might notice an old lady is losing her sharpness and although it’s nothing to do with me I would wait until her daughter comes in and ask if her mum was alright.

“I would like to think if that was my wee mother it would be brought to my attention.

“It’s a privilege to be part of people’s lives.

“That’s what a community should be – looking out for each other.

“It will be 40 years this June since I joined the Post Office.

“I have just signed a new contract with the Post Office – so they have got me for another five years.”

On a personal note, Colin is saddened how it’s taken until now for hundreds of postmasters across the country to be exonerated after being wrongly prosecuted for misappropriating funds when a faulty Post Office IT system was to blame all along.

“We never had anything like that at Castle Douglas,” he says. “We always had an audit system at our post office and every week we had to submit reports declaring what you have in your till.

“But other people found that somehow they were thousands of pounds short.

“The Post Office said you have taken the money and these poor folk were prosecuted.

“Some had prison sentences, some committed suicide and it’s not been properly resolved yet.

“When you take on a post office it’s not just a business you are taking on.

“It’s very much part of the community, especially for old folk.

“People were suddenly sacked because of supposed discrepancies – and that was their reputation shattered.

“Their whole name was tarnished.”

For light relief, Colin resorts to the local Fullarton Theatre.

“After lockdown I wanted to do something for the community through the theatre. We did four pantos, worked with the Found and Hound Theatre and put on musicals. The Fullarton made me think there’s more to life than working.

“I was able to channel my humorous side and give something back to the community at the same time.”

Meanwhile, Colin has agreed a further five-year contract with the Post Office to take him through to 2027.

“I will be doing something when it comes to our 30th anniversary here in 2024.

“We will be having a celebration that involves the community in two years’ time.

“I could not have done any of this without the support of the team.

“There have been a number of people who have worked for us over the years.

“One lady has been with us since we opened in 1994 and that’s Shona Hogg.

“When things were difficult she was there to run the post office.

“Shona always stepped up to the mark and would say to me not to worry.”

Colin is also doing his bit for those in desperate need abroad. “We have a donations box for the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Appeal,” he said – then left the best for last.

“We get all sorts of things left behind,” he smiles.

“There’s been walking sticks, hats, gloves and other stuff but the best of all was a black pair of ladies’ knickers.

“If anybody is still looking for them they can get in touch!”