Ayr Postie Retires : With Party From Residents

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HE’S fought angry pheasants and been labelled the new Postman Pat.

Now, after 37 years of waking up at 3.30am, Alistair Hunter is hanging up his mail sack.

But he’s made such a big impact on residents that they couldn’t let him go without a farewell bash.

Alistair, 60, has proved a popular postie wherever he’s gone in more than three decades of mail delivery.

But he really made his mark during the final 12 years of his role in the Craigie area of Ayr.

And residents weren’t prepared to wave goodbye to their favourite mailman without a proper send-off.

Elizabeth Mitchell, who invited the whole street to a postie party, revealed: “Alistair is such a nice man.

“He got to know us all personally during his time in the job and he would stand and blether away to us.

“He always made sure he went that extra mile to help out if he could and was liked by all of us.

“I decided to throw a wee party to say thanks for all his service – and everyone I invited came along on the night.

“I think that proves how popular he really was as our postie.

“The Post Office could do with using him as a great example to all their other staff members.”

Stunned Alistair admits the party left him lost for words.

He said: “It came right out of the blue for me and I’m really thankful to the residents for being so nice.

“I was lucky enough to meet a lot of lovely people in Craigie and loved doing my job for them.

“I worked in many parts of the country but Craigie was definitely my favourite run of them all.

“It wasn’t as scary as one of the rural runs I had in Dunure where I had to deliver to a gamekeeper’s cottage and he had a hand-reared pheasant in the house.

“It used to attack me every morning – the guy seemed to think it was quite funny but I didn’t find it as humorous!”

And the secret to being a good postie?

“Just being a good people person,” says Alistair. “I’ve built up a lot of friendships during the years and the good wishes from the residents in Craigie meant so much to me.”