Saltash History and Heritage
The Post and Post Offices of Saltash
What an erection confronts one now on entering our Post Office! The highest they have so far done around here, it makes this “Anti-Bandit Screen” put up on 5th and 6th October 1974 no thing of beauty; just a sign of the times into which this old island of ours is sinking.
Although as usual the cost of blocks prohibits illustrations, let us glance at the Post and Post Offices of our town. The “Mail” or “Post” - so called because men used to ride “Post”, hence the expression post haste - goes back a long way before Sir Roland Hill and the first adhesive postage stamp in 1840. It can be said to date in a primitive form from 1517 when King Henry VIII appointed Sir Brian Tuke as the first Master of the King’s Post. Gradually letter carrying spread and the official way was the Post Boy, a paid rider with his little bag of mail and a short horn to blow as warning on approaching habitation or a toll gate. The charge made on delivery was on the distance the letter was carried.
About 1769, a Mr Coad died at Saltash leaving a widow and six children. To support them, she took in washing and walked with the few post-letters to and from Plymouth several times a week. Incoming letters were usually stuck up in the window until seen. Later, about the age of 9, a son George Coad used to take the letters around the small town for his mother, now Mrs Mary Williams. Later, he took on the job of Letter Carrier on the Plymouth side using a horse or donkey. P.E.B. Porter refers to the latter. He also refers to the Corporation paying Mrs Williams £1.16.6 for going Post for the half year on 3rd April 1786.
The Universal British Directory, Vol. 4 for 1798 says, “…a bye-post from Plymouth arrives every Monday, Thursday and Saturday, the expense of which is paid by a subscription from the inhabitants; George Coad Postmaster”. Later the income of the office was reduced and Coad had to sell his horse and walk twice a day to Plymouth.
The first type of postmark or stamp was only put on folded letters (no envelopes) in London, and so a letter from Saltash dated 1699 had no marking as it was for Exeter. Another of 1716 has the round mark 21AP put on in London and also the word PLY / MOUTH in two lines.
From where Mrs Williams and then Coad operated does not seem to be known, but the first Receiving House found was “the Cottage”, now 115 Fore Street. Coad also used to bring up at the same time stones from the river using them for building opposite, the first Wesleyan Chapel in the town – this would have been about 1808. One difficulty in trying to dig out local postal history is that, when the last war started, all records had to be sent to the Plymouth Head Office and so were lost in the blitz.
In 1807, Saltash became a “Plymouth 5th Clause Post”, so called after that clause in an Act of 1801 which permitted towns or villages that were not post towns to employ messengers to carry letters and agree to pay a halfpenny or a penny ”whatever the convention may be”. They differed from the “Penny Posts” in not being part of the Post Office. If there was a deficiency, the inhabitants agreed by the convention to make it good. No postmarks of this have yet been found – unlike the case at Okehampton. It was soon replaced by the “Plymouth Penny Post”, a charge made beyond all other postal charges, and the letters were marked No. 2, of Saltash number of that Post Town.
In 1840 came the uniform postal rate prepaid with a penny black stamp or a two-penny blue and the gradual introduction of the envelope. No one had bothered about envelopes before as each extra piece of paper increased the postage. The stamps were obliterated by a Maltese-Cross-shaped mark, probably put on in Plymouth, while the letters were date-stamped “Saltash” on the back before they left here.
In September 1847, the Council asked the Postmaster General for “a return Post for this Town”; the Postmaster was given in Williams Commercial Directory as George Whitford. Mails from Plymouth and North of England arrive 12:50 pm and dispatched 6:30 pm. The Town Clerk applied in 1852 to the PMG for Post Office orders to be issued here. By that time, Plymouth used numbered obliterator 620 and Mails arrived at 8 am and 6 pm and left at 9 am and 5 pm.
The National and Local Post amalgamated and their employees continued under the General Post Office in 1854. Two years later, the Devon and Cornwall Directory said there was a four-horse mail each day through Saltash to Launceston; this of course would have been some form of cart or a horse bus. The glamour of the Mail Coaches with their speed and almost instant change of horses every ten miles was not as widespread as people believe.
In 1859, the Cornwall Railway opened and the “Mail” train made a stop here in both directions, thus speeding things up. Rickard’s Mail Cart started to meet these two trains in 1862 with the mail of the Callington area.
During 1863, Saltash started cancelling its own stamps as it was allotted the numbered mark B91. Ten years later, the telegraph was introduced and payment made to the railway for carrying the wires on their poles to Cattedown, Plymouth. It was worked something like the dial on a telephone; this took time. When the speed of the Morse code was introduced, the clicking of the Morse key was soon a familiar sound in the Post Office. In later years, up to 500 telegrams a day would be received in the fruit season and telegraph messengers (boys) were employed for delivery. Our telegraphic code number was S.C.W. Events of national importance could now come “over” the wires and these were displayed on a card in the window.
At this period, the mails arrived at 5 am, 11.14 am, 1.41 pm and 7.19 pm and were dispatched at the same time. This was in 1873 when Mr Joseph Rawling with the help of his sister-in-law (widely known as Auntie Rogers) next held sway at 33 Fore Street, selling newspapers, etc. as well. No. 33 later became Cory’s and now Westcott’s.
In October 1883, the name Postman was introduced for Letter Carrier. This was because the man had to carry parcels in addition to letters. Today, men in the red vans slip about the countryside, but the “walk” of Mr Jack Coombes in 1896 was to Carkeel, Skinham, Higher Pill, Pilmere, Hold Farm, Burrehill and Moditonham! The town’s address now had to have the letters RSO (Railway Sub-Office), similar to the postal code PL12 number of today.
In 1885, stamps were franked with a “squared” circular mark inscribed “Saltash” and the time and date. The following year, Mr Fred A. Rawling took over from his father.
The Cornish Times reported in November 1890 that the Mayor (Mr Dusting) had written the MP asking support for the Council’s application for the retention of St Budeaux, Honicknowle, Budshead and Saltash Passage (money orders etc. were from Saltash P.O.) as Devonport were trying to get that country area under their wing.
The next move up the Fore Street came in 1893 when the new building erected in 1890 by the Devon & Cornwall Bank was shared (nos. 97 and 98) under the joint managership of Mr Rawling. The Telegraph messenger was Harry Coombes who joined in 1895 at the age of 12; having delivered papers around the town for the Postmaster, he reported for duty at 8 o’clock. This included clearing the letterbox at Longlands (on foot) at noon and, having been on the go since 5:30 am, quite often a telegram at 8 pm had to be delivered in all weathers to the Commander of H.M.S. Defiance (off Wearde Quay). For all this, he was paid 5/- a week and nothing for the paper round. When a little older, he had to fill in for one of the three postmen, Gill, Vosper and Pickard, if sick.
The same Mayor when in London in 1896 called on the Postmaster General and told him it was time Saltash became a Head Post Office. This came about and its Sub-Offices were Ashtor Hall, later removed to the bottom of Albert Road and then “The Rustic Tea Garden” which became Dawe’s Creamery, Burraton, Burraton Coombe (moved from Forder across the road from the stream), Antony Passage and Cross Park. The deliveries and collections were at 7 am, 11:45 am, 4:45 pm and 8:30 pm, collecting on their way, and from 1888 there had been direct mail to and from London. Even after the last collection, one could also go to the station and post direct into the box of the Royal Mail train for the addition of a halfpenny stamp.
In 1906, a round postmark of two circles came into use with the name Saltash at the top and the lower half blacked out. Head Postmaster Rawling gradually found expansion of work in both the Post Office and Lloyds Bank (as it had become in 1906) too much of a good thing. He was called to London and chose the Bank, and the Post Office ended its share of the building (where the main door is) in August 1923. In the December of that year, the Council agreed the postman’s half day should change from Wednesday to Saturday when there would be no third delivery. “The Saltash Gazette”, a local paper, of 21st February 1924 stated the motor mail service to Callington had started, replacing the horse vehicle mail after three generations of Rickards. This proved to be short-lived. This year the Postman’s half day changed from Wednesday to Saturday and no third delivery on that day in future – now only one.
The Post Office carried on at Church House from 1924-27 (the last rented building) and during this time the word Cornwall was added to the postmark. Saltash which had been the smallest Head Office now became a salaried Sub-Office under Postmaster Frank Harding and was controlled by the Head Postmaster at Plymouth. Now there were complaints of the early morning post; as the mail trains no longer stopped here, an offer was made for the early morning goods train from Plymouth to be used. This was turned down but through the efforts of Mr Gerald Harrison, our MP and the Postmaster General, in March 1926 agreed that the down “Postal” should again stop here. At this time, women for 6 d a day had to be on the dot of time in all weathers to meet the postman at such places as Trematon for the Trevollard area and Forder for Antony Passage, etc.
Through the kindness of Dr H.G. Robinson who allowed some of his garden at the Mansions to be taken, the new single-storey Crown Office was opened in September 1927. Through dilatory proceedings, he nearly withdrew his offer while shortage of money prevented the two-storey building intended.
The Callington mail by motor van via Gunnislake and Tavistock proved unsatisfactory and the night mails were contracted out to Mr George Davis, a non-Postal servant, who took it at 4 am from the station to Callington, Calstock and Gunnislake from 1930 until September 1959. He must have been the last of such carriers in the country, and during the War Torpoint was included.
With the coming of a motor van and motor bikes with box-cars, the open and covered hand carts for taking the Mail to or from the station disappeared and the postal area covered was extended to Cargreen and Tideford, while the night van went as far as St Germans.
In 1935, road widening demolished the Ashtor Hall (as above), but the Fore St Office survived the wartime blitz with Postmaster Harding. Mr Owen Batten took charge in 1943, being followed in 1946 by Mr Miriams and so the localness started to leave our Post Office. In time for the Christmas rush in 1948, the hand-stamping of letters gave way to a hand-operated Kreig machine giving five wavy lines as well as the date stamp.
Due to increasing charges, telegrams grew less, and the local office finished in 1954. They are now brought from Plymouth by Junior Postmen, formally Telegraph “Boys”, as they were known. The next year, it was found only three people availed themselves of Sunday service and so the 9-10:30 am opening came to an end.
In 1955, Postmen Eric John and Leslie Taylor were covering 20 miles a day by bicycle and two on foot over the Forder, Trematon and Elm Gate round. So tough was the going that their bike was fitted specially with a three-speed gear.
March 1956, a van started to come from Plymouth across the ferry for a late restricted collection from some boxes, this mail being taken direct to Pennycomequick. A wicker handcart for parcels to the shops was also introduced.
Back in 1949, the GPO had bought the burnt-out Methodist Chapel site in Fore Street as they were very cramped for space, and a new building line was proposed for the street. At last, after being pushed back on two sides, the new Crown Office was opened on 30th April 1962 together with a yard and garages. In the large sorting room, an electric Pitney-Bowes postmarking machine came into use, giving seven wavy lines that can be replaced by a slogan such as “Remember to use the Post Code”, this addition having been introduced to your address in 1969.
Postmaster E.R. Perkins, who had taken over in 1963, died and was replaced by Mr W.H. Cornish. The next year, there was the first P.O. Strike for 73 years and, in the November, the last Mail Train made its stop here, this being transferred to Liskeard.
General sorting came to an end on 5th February 1966, only local letters being picked out from collections. If it had not been for the Postmaster giving a warning, the postmark “Saltash” might have gone too. This is used on all mail from Saltash vans that is not the Sunday or 1:30 pm and late collection.
Mr Cornish moved on and in March 1970, Mr F.J. Collier took charge. Before twelve months were out came the Great Postal Strike lasting 47 days. Nothing was collected or delivered, and many wall boxes were sealed. Some Private Posts sprang up during the strike. A little payment of pensions was done and, save for collections, Sub-Offices were not affected. When the staff returned, they had many headaches. Decimalization had started on 15th February, and letters had also gone up from 4 d and 5 d to 6 d (2½ p) and 7 d (3 p).
On 16th June 1972, Forder Sub-Office (then at Apple Tree Court) closed – not viable we were told – so if you have no car a good up-hill walk lies ahead to get a stamp or pension at Cross Park. The following 6th January, our Head Office started 1 pm closing on Saturdays, and on 8th June the South Pill Sub-Office closed altogether. Unfortunately, this year our Postmaster died, and the office is now under the supervision of Mr Trevor Soloman in an acting capacity. A local boy, he joined our office as a Telegraph Messenger with a red bicycle.
On 21st May 1980, all the telephone section broke away as British Telecom.