Posties no longer need to go where Scott of the Antartic would have feared to tread

The Postie Notes column by Mark Gilbert

I often smile to myself when my phone pings up a weather warning for “Flood Alert for Torrisdale”.

I stay on Torrisdale in Skerray, and all of the 12 properties are at least 40 feet above sea level, some with a fantastic view of the bay.

Seacrest, The Manse and Dall House below might be affected by a biblical flood, as they are just above sea level.

It would be interesting to know what warnings the people I deliver to get, as I travel to Kinbrace, along Strathnaver and back to Bettyhill to deliver to half of Bettyhill and then Skelpick, Invernaver and then back home.

The temperature gauge on my dashboard is up and down like a pogo stick and it can be up to five degrees different as I travel around.

I have various points at this time of year where I make decisions about my trip over to Kinbrace, where I deliver papers and collect my post.

Normally, as I drive down Strathnaver, the temperature falls quite quickly, and I can also judge if the gritter has been through and whether it has been effective.

If I can get up Dalvina Brae, the next and most important decision is made at the Palm Loch, this is because the next 14 miles or so are the wild and open expanse of the B871 logging route.

I often phone the head gamekeeper at Badanloch from here if I am not sure, simply because it can be totally different over there. Depending on the weather, I have to consider that I have to get back again, and conditions change so quickly.

As a Royal Mail manager for 20 years before “retiring” to my postie round in the Far North, we changed the policy of “the post must get through”, without regard for the safety of the staff, to “we will only deliver if it safe to do so”.

But changing old school posties’ attitudes was an issue, as old habits die hard and giving posties the freedom to make their own decisions was hard to inspire initially.

I had a number of battles trying to explain to posties who had injured themselves when going somewhere even Scott of The Antarctic wouldn’t have ventured, that we would now be a man down for a few days because of their misplaced heroism.

They also usually had some painful bruises to remind them too.

In my office we eventually adopted our own slogan, “Don’t go in if you don’t think you will get out again, because we ain’t coming to get you”.

This followed on from a postie who decided to drive a mile down a track to a millionaire’s house, with a leaflet for replacement windows.

The snow was six inches deep, the van got stuck and it took hours to rescue him.

He wasn’t a popular boy for a while, especially with the householder, who couldn’t get back to his house in his big 4×4 Chelsea tractor!

Some people say I have been overcautious in not delivering to their house when the ice or snow has been laying for days, and also that they managed to get there.

My view is that you live there and have to risk it, but I don’t have to go there, and I won’t risk it!

This means that I am back again the day after to try again.

I’ve seen it go wrong so many times, and always remember the boy trying to explain why he felt a replacement window advert needed to go.

Mark Gilbert works as a postman out of Bettyhill.

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