'Laurel & Hardy' Post Boxes

 

The two pillar boxes standing outside the 'old' Post Office on the corner of the High Street and Queens Road

Photograph by Sue Murray ARPS

 

The second of two pillar boxes being moved

Photograph by Sue Murray ARPS

 

The two pillar boxes being moved

Photograph by Sue Murray ARPS

 

The 'new' Post Office in the High Street - 1996

Photograph by Sue Murray ARPS

Prior to 1996, the Post Office had been on the corner of Queen’s Road. Outside, stood two pillar boxes. Originally there was just one, but with the growth in the local population, one proved insufficient for all the mail people wanted to post, so it was joined by a mate.

In 1996 however, the then owner of the Post Office decided to sell up and the franchise was bought by someone else and transferred to another property in the High Street.

Those two pillar boxes were fondly christened ‘Laurel and Hardy’ by locals. Sue Murray captured their removal and her photographs are shown below. Fortunately this little bit of history was not lost because, following local demand, they were relocated outside the new Post Office.

(Note: Originally published by me on the Wivenhoe Encyclopedia in 2006)