Remembering where to go on a rural round ?

Post by **Seagull1983** » 30 Sep 2018, 12:10

I’m new. Went with 2 different trainers last week on rurals. They were great but how do I go about remembering where to go ? It was one farm/work shop/ huge house etc all on winding roads. I presume I could do a practice run on a few that I may be put on ? List the roads in order may not work as a lot are house names in the middle of nowhere. My Mrs has bought me a map but I’m not great with them. I’m not after criticism of Royal Mail just ways that you may have used ?

Thanks

NewPostieUK · Post by **NewPostieUK** » 30 Sep 2018, 12:49

I have a hard time learning rurals as I have a terrible sense of direction.

1. Find out where the whole area is.
2. Print off a general Google map.
3. Print of more detailed maps (Bing maps are like ordnance survey, very detailed. Almost every house and farm and hamlet on my rural is named on Bing maps).
4. When out being trained, make notes.
5. Make more notes.
6. Think of memory joggers such as 'left at the big barn right at the small barn', or 'go through stables then double back'.
7. Add coloured notes to your notes! This helps jog your memory.
8. Never forget your notes. I took mine out with me for months.

The first week I was looking at the notes at every junction, after every drop, and often after I'd sailed straight past where I was supposed to be going.

arnold cheshire · Post by **arnold cheshire** » 30 Sep 2018, 14:25

You should have looked see if theyhave signs saying the name of the house visible has you went to each one . How many days tuition did you have? It will probably be nothing to worry about all the best with it

leolion855 · Post by **leolion855** » 30 Sep 2018, 15:56

get a blank piece of a4 and draw some straight lines on it.
on the left hand side write the names of the houses on the left hand side in delivery order, do the same for the right hand side.If you need to turn at a junction after a house write tl (turn left) tr (turn right) or tround if you need to go back on yourself.
you could also make notes of landscape features if required (windmill,phonebox etc),as below.

house a house c
-------- ------ ---------tl------ ------tr-------
house b farm d

NewPostieUK · Post by **NewPostieUK** » 30 Sep 2018, 16:16

The walklog should have a list in the correct order, just borrow it, or ask lino for a copy. I did that and used it for my initial notes.

Like Leolion says, its quick to write things like 'left', 'right', or even 'box on back door' and 'open brown door put mail on fridge'.

Seymour Buts · Post by **Seymour Buts** » 30 Sep 2018, 16:35

Difficult one this, untill you've done it a few times it's a bit of a pain! Like others have said, I find simple notes good. Left, right, house on right, house at end of the lane then turn round, ect ect quite useful. I combine that with Google maps which I find hardy. I've ever used Google Maps on delivery before coz I was lost. Rurals and business duties are crap the first few times you do them; after that though they're the best duties so relish the time you're on them! You're on your own too, take your break when you want, take tea and sarnies and have a picnick if it's a nice rural area

arnold cheshire · Post by **arnold cheshire** » 30 Sep 2018, 17:16

Write the house names on paper and think about it for days

Post by **Seagull1983** » 30 Sep 2018, 17:35

In a strange way it may get easier when I’m on my own. Just need to slow down and do things at my own pace. Currently having to take in conversations, pda’s, never really using a bag unless for parcels, it’s 100% at the moment but I know this jobs for me.

rubberbond · Post by **rubberbond** » 30 Sep 2018, 20:34

I always used to ask the duty holder for a tying up /bundling list ,got loads of walks in a file, the best person usually is te but day off cover,most duty holders were more than happy to help. Have a drive round in your own time as well once you get the list ,it all helps.

Jpro747 · Post by **Jpro747** » 30 Sep 2018, 20:58

Get walklog and write notes on every address, such as where the nameplate is for that address and if there isn’t one write something unique about that address. Just write every little detail you can find. Also write which way to turn after leaving the property. If you do get lost you can just backtrack on the walklog.

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 30 Sep 2018, 22:37

As long as the frame is set in order of delivery you should be alright. On rurals there is a tendency to not miss many houses out whereas on estates and shared walks a lot of houses are missed out a lot of the time. If you make a mistake you will never forget that or do it again.

Post by **Seagull1983** » 01 Oct 2018, 17:29

Thanks all for replying.

Dorset Plodder · Post by **Dorset Plodder** » 01 Oct 2018, 17:33

One of the main reasons you don't normally start a Newbie off on a Rural Duty. They can be VERY Confusing. Not like following your nose (and bundle) around a housing estate. Just because it's the next slot in the frame, it can often be miles away!

Once you've covered a few duties you normally get into the habit of making notes & using the bundling lists, plenty of good tips here though. The problem we have is Reserves are trained on the Rurals but they never get a chance to do them. Because they're obviously so enjoyable to deliver that the Duty Holders always works their days off.

The Reserves only get a chance to do them when the Duty Holders are on Holiday, and by then they've forgotten all the little difficult bits.

itinerant · Post by **itinerant** » 01 Oct 2018, 18:44

They are nearly all rural duties at our office and I went from covering 1 to covering 6 duties in about 4 months

Some of these duties are 90%+ house names not numbers so on day 1 of training on a new duty I take detailed notes (including tieing up in case the standard frame order isnt the one used by the duty holder and then full details of route directions, info on each loop including house names etc + any additional notes like door codes etc).

I then type the notes up on Google Keep on my laptop so that I can access the details on my phone.

In reality I have only needed the notes for a few days once I am out on my own, and then everything clicks into place, but they have really saved me in the early days of covering a new duty.

datasaint · Post by **datasaint** » 01 Oct 2018, 22:58

Tip for remembering a rural is just to remember the route you drive, not the actual specifics which house follows that house, that way you at least you can get round and mostly the rest just falls into place, if you can't find something just bring it back and ask somebody who knows for the following day.