Last post: Rob ends 45-year mail round

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/1376 ... ail_round/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/resources/images/4245749.jpg?display=1&htype=0&type=mc3 DOG bites, delivering cremation ashes and being soaked in the driving rain – postman Rob Marven has seen it all.

During a 45-year career as a postman in Dedham, he has walked miles through all types of weather.

But, as he prepares to turn 65 on Monday, the determined deliverer has decided to hang up his postbag for the last time.

He has now bid farewell to colleagues at Manningtree’s delivery office.

Rob said: “The one thing that stands out was something I had to deliver.

“It was a box which contained human ashes that came from America and was addressed to the parish church.

“That was one of the most peculiar things I had to deal with.”

Rob said the box had a customs declaration on it, so he knew what it contained, but had no idea whose ashes they were.

He added: “We have also had artificial limbs to deliver, but over all those years you just can’t remember it all.”

On another occasion, he delivered a royal telegram to congratulate a 100-year-old woman in Dedham on reaching the milestone.

He said: “At that point, I was asked to go in and a photograph was taken with her.

“I remember that really made her day.

“I think she was the only one on my round who reached 100.”


Rob, of Parsons Field, Dedham, took up the job in 1970 to save him catching the bus from the village to Colchester.

He added: “I was in the retail trade after I left school and this came up and I knew it would save me money.”

In all those years he’s had just three weeks off through sickness – including for the occasional unfriendly welcome he received from dogs.

Recalling the first time, he said: “The dog just bounded out of the door and decided to have a go at my arm.

“In a separate incident, I did sustain a nasty bite on my stomach a few years ago from another dog. They were the only two and no action was taken.”

Only once has bad weather stopped Rob from completing a round, when there was heavy snow.

Although times have changed with fewer letters but more parcels to deliver, Rob said the round still took him five hours to complete.

Looking to the future, he said: “It is going to be strange. I have got nothing planned in the long term.”

[bustedflush]

Ends a 45-year round! Bloody hell, was it the lapsing that pushed him over by 44 years, 11 months 29 days and 19.5 hours?? I hope he claimed for an extended.....