Post office to shut for months after stalwart's send-off

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.dover-express.co.uk/Post-off ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

RIVER Post Office will be closed for several months in the wake of James Brannigan's retirement after 30 years last Friday.

The 78-year-old appeared in the Express last month when he was honoured for his three decades of service with a plaque at the Chilton Way store.

But Mr Brannigan walked away from the shop on Friday, and it will now be closed for a few months for a revamp.

The grandfather of two lives above the store but will now move to Leicester to be closer to his daughter Oona, a teacher.

Speaking on his last day, Mr Brannigan told the Express: "I'll be 79 in December and I've got ulcers on my legs, so I need to rest.

"I've had lots of cards and gifts from customers, I've been very surprised by the amount of people saying it will be sad to see me go."

Asked what he might do in retirement, he said: "I haven't had time to think about it."

From jumpers to hardware, toys to his famous home-cooked hams, James Brannigan sold them all during his time in River.

It was the hams which his shop became famous for, with customers travelling from as far afield as Deal and Folkestone to buy them.

He and his wife Eileen took over the post office in 1984, years before Tesco opened its superstore up the hill in Whitfield. Eileen died in 1989.

The former teacher had been working in Zambia for about ten years, but when he returned to the UK there were few available teaching jobs in the early 1980s, so he turned his hand to retail.