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A village bid a loving farewell to their much-loved post lady, who has retired after 38 years of service.
Mary Dainton, or ‘Mary the Post’ as she is lovingly known, has been delivering mail in the village of East Markham for almost four decades.
She started working for Royal Mail back in 1986, and throughout the years has tirelessly served the small community.
In that time she has a lot while out on the rounds, from helping to reunite dogs with their owners, and rounded up sheep, to being dug out of snow drifts and delivering shopping to older residents during the Covid pandemic.
One time Mary even helped foil a burglary, when she spotted a suspicious car and men fleeing from a property, and immediately sped off to the nearest phone box to report it to the police who later found the car.
Now she has hung up the keys to her van for good and will begin a well-earned retirement.
As recognition of her service, villagers banded together to say thank you, with around 500 gathering to surprise Mary at a send off party in East Markham Village Hall.
Organisers Jo Crutchely and Dee Abbott secretly sent out a note to every house in the village telling people about this celebration and inviting them to attend, and the fact that so very many of them did so speaks volumes about what Mary means to them.
Jo lured her friend Mary to the hall without giving the game away, and when they walked in were greeted by so many smiling familiar faces.
The memorable event was made even more special with a beautiful cake by Jacqui Johnson depicting Mary and her van.
Bob Gale from the Markham Players spoke on behalf of the many well-wishers about how important Mary is to the community and presented her with a cheque for £1,838 which had been made up from donations.
Among the many cards, messages and other gifts was a set of photo books showing Mary’s time involved with the Markham Players group throughout the years, a past time she hopes to continue with.
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