Newcastle sorting office at Christmas, 1961.
Royal Mail staff take a break from sorting Christmas post to pose for a team picture in the early 1960s, below. In another image the workers are captured going about their jobs in the busy run-up to the big day.
The photographs belonged to Peter Johnson's late father, Bernard, who worked at the former sorting office in Newcastle's Ironmarket, the building now occupied by pub chain JD Wetherspoon.
“It was hectic at Christmas," says Peter, aged 77, of Tunstall. “The volume of mail was different to what it is today – there was a lot more. Nobody delivered their own cards in those days, everybody posted cards – even if it was for someone who lived just across the road. Dad worked 12-hour shifts, from 5am to 5pm, and then the night shift took over."
peter's late father, Bernard Johnson, is in the middle
Bernard, who died 40 years ago, started out as a telegram boy as a teenager, after leaving school.
“He then served in the Army in the Second World War," says Peter, who is married to Christine, aged 75, and has two daughters and a granddaughter. “After that he worked his way up. He was as a postman, a driver, and later an assistant inspector, followed by a full inspector.
“The inspector's job was a jack-of-all-trades role, like a lot of things in the Royal Mail then. He was responsible for the running of the office. If anything went wrong, the inspector had to go to the head postmaster at Tontine Street in Hanley."
The pictures give an insight into the running of the sorting office 55 years ago. In one image, staff separate items into boxes labelled with various street names, with a sign entitled 'Special notice to all – tidiness' behind. A neat sorting office was clearly crucial to the efficient running of the operation.
There are no names to accompany the photographs, so we'd welcome information from readers.
Another image from 1961
Peter says: “There were five inspectors in the area at the time. Four were based in Leek Road in Stoke-on-Trent, and one in Newcastle. In 1961 it was my dad's turn to be at Newcastle. As well as the sorting office, the counter staff worked there, too.
“Dad worked for Royal Mail for more than 40 years, and received a long service medal. When he started it was the Civil Service, and then it became the General Post Office, which included telecommunications. Later it was split up, with Royal Mail delivering letters, and the Post Office running the counters."
Peter followed in his father's footsteps by joining Royal Mail. “I started at aged 15," he says, “and was the last pedal cycle messenger boy in Stoke-on-Trent, which was my first job."