Residents bid farewell to popular Winsley postie

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Residents of a west Wiltshire village raised nearly £1,500 for a popular post lady who is retiring after more than two decades.

Ninna Beaven, 60, will be fondly remembered for her role in the community of Winsley near Bradford on Avon, which she served for 25 years.

Customer and friend Veronica Miller, 61, of Winsley, said: “She was such a lovely person. She was always cheerful and said good morning.

“She was always making sure that the elderly folk were up and about. She is good fun and always sees the best in everybody.”

One particular memory villagers recall of Mrs Beaven was when she left a bunch of mint on the doorstep of a pensioner after overhearing her say in a local shop that she could never get any.

Mrs Miller presented a cheque for £1,400 at a special leaving ceremony attended by about 75 people at the Winsley Bowls Club on Saturday, July 25.

Mrs Beaven moved to Winsley in 1971 from Denmark, where she is from, and married husband John two years later. They have a daughter Maria, now 36, and son Kevin, now 33, who both still live in the village.

Mrs Beaven is passionate about bowling and will use her retirement to play more often, as well as go back to yoga, swimming, gardening and making her own jam and pickles.

She said: “I am sad to go in the sense that the daily contact with people will not be there but then I live in Winsley so I will never lose contact with people.

“There has been such a lot of uncertainty over the last few years but I have loved it, and the people in Winsley are absolutely fantastic. They are an extended family; I am so lucky.”

Mr Beaven was almost forced to call it a day 12 years ago when she suffered a serious fall from her bike that left her concussed and scared to ride a bicycle.

“I didn’t honestly think I would go back to work,” she said.

“I fell because of a pot hole in Bradford on Avon. There had been some road works going on and the tarmac had sunk a bit and I was coming down early morning when it was really dark and I ended up on my head.

“It was thanks to my colleagues that I came back after it.”