BBC News

From the Times of London:

A postcard from Poland that was addressed “Khumi, Yellow Door, Wilmslow, England” has arrived at the correct house.

Which prompted this letter to the editor:

Sir, Congratulations to the postmen of Wilmslow (news report, Feb 16). My brother (6ft 5in in his socks), who lives in the second largest town in Orkney, once received a card addressed to “The Big Englishman, Stromness”.

Followed by this:

Sir, Like “The Big Englishman, Stromness” (letter, Feb 19 ), my late father also received prompt delivery of a letter with a descriptive address.

His was: “Colonel with three moustaches, c/o Buckingham Palace, London”.

Larger-than-average eyebrows are a (male) family feature.

Which in turn led to:

Sir, Some years ago, I had a similar postal experience to those of “The Big Englishman, Stromness” and “Colonel with three moustaches” (letters, Feb 19 and 22 ).

I received an aerogramme addressed to “Napoleon and Josephine, Halesworth”.

My husband (Nicholas) wasn’t sure whether its exceptionally speedy delivery was cause for congratulation or concern.

A sign that maybe you have too much time on your hands?

An Experiment

Take one blank postcard, write your own address on one side with a stamp, and your friend’s address on the other side with a stamp.

What do the sorting office do in this situation?! They could either

a) Send it back to me
b) Send it to Dave
c) Send it backwards and forwards, or
d) If they have a sense of humour, cut it in half with a cheese wire!

I thought that if I sent it from within my postcode area they would send it straight back to me as the nearest address. So, I popped the prepared postcard inside an envelope and sent it to a friend who lives approximately between me and Dave to send on from there.

Postal Tug of War
de omni re scibili et quibusdam aliis

From Flickr: Looks like the Royal Mail has problems with its customers…

Click for more signs of abuse from the UK

How the Royal Mail got an undeliverable package home, thanks to a lucky break…

wongablog

A jiffy bag containing a replica hand grenade purchased on eBay broke open in a post office in Wales- resulting in a few tense moments…

icWales - Jiffy bag bomb scare

From The Times: the moral maze in the UK:

“When letters were delivered with the stamps uncancelled, I used to cut them off and re-use them. But now I think that that was dishonest, so I ignore the temptation. After all, the Royal Mail has completed its obligation of posting that letter to me, so why shouldn’t it be paid?”

Click to read the response, which gets extra points for the use of the word ‘churlish’.

Modern morals - Times 2 - Times Online