A Cumbrian author is appealing for any surviving rural postal workers or their families to come forward.
Alan Cleaver from Whitehaven is writing a book celebrating their contribution to communities and mapping the old routes before they are forgotten.
Mail deliveries on foot ended with the introduction of vans in the 1970s.
But before then postmen and women often carried out dangerous journeys six days a week, including on Christmas Day, to deliver and collect mail and medicines to hard-to-reach homes.
Alan Cleaver said: “I walked a couple on a basic level.
"They are nice walks, but at the same time, I was recalling the history that postmen and women did and the great characters they were and the stories and the anecdotes that you found en route.
"I thought it was an important piece of social history to find out more about and record”
I would add it wasn't until the early 2000s that rural van duties were generally introduced due to the closure of sub post offices and the inability of remaining sub offices to accommodate delivery postmen at their office, I believe funding was withdrawn to make this possible, happy to be corrected though