Delivering the Mail

The earliest mention of post in Denton that can be found is that in 1847 'letters were received through the Northampton office'.

By 1869 we know there was a pillar box as it was cleared at 5 p.m. daily. A few years later, in 1874, it is recorded that there was a wall letter box and letters arrived from Northampton at 9 a.m. and were 'despatched ' (presumably collected) at 5 p.m. 

By 1885, a decade later, there is first mention of some sort of official person in that Joseph Robinson is the 'receiver’ of the mail. Letters from Northampton arrived at 6.15 a.m. and were despatched at 6.15 p.m. weekdays and Sundays. Bear in mind this was still well before the days of motorised transport so the mail would have to have come by horse in some way so this was really a top-class service comparing favourably with today.

In 1898 Joseph Robinson is described as a 'sub-post-master' and the early morning delivery and late afternoon collection 7 days a week were still in operation and, in addition postal orders were being issued, an important facility in an era well before widespread use of bank accounts.

By 1910 it was Denton born William Robinson who was the sub-postmaster, almost certainly the son of Joseph. William was also a carpenter on the 1901 census return and was born in 1847. The were an industrious family as, in addition to his wife Rebecca (born in Yardley),  they had 5 children aged 12 to 26 at the time and 3 of the older ones were already working; 2 daughters as self-employed dressmakers and the only son was a carpenter like his father. However it was in another capacity that this carpenter son, Sydney Robinson, became probably one of Denton's most noted residents. A separate section details his achievements (see Sydney Robinson - Denton's Olympian).

The Robinson's carpentry business developed into them becoming funeral directors as well and eventually the business traded from Earls Barton.

The post office was on Bedford Road thought to be at what is now called Stone House and it is a reasonable assumption the wall letter-box was there. After the Robinson's had moved on the post office remained at Stone House with a Mrs Dawkins serving there - this would have been in the 1930s

In due course Mrs Tamplin ran the post office from her house further up Bedford Road on the right past the Quart Pot corner. It was also where the doctor from Yardley Hastings held his twice weekly surgery and mixed and dispensed his remedies on the spot.

The post office proprietor was not always the deliverer of the mail. Between the wars the postmen had included Jesse Hollowell, father of Bert Hollowell, in the 1930s, Bert Woods from Barn Farm,  then in 1940, Edwin Wilkinson who lived in the very last house on Northampton Road leaving the village (his house was demolished and replaced by a new house was built on the site in the 1970s).  From 1949 onwards Tom Colley was the postman. He had worked as a jockey at The Elms but had a bad accident and was injured. He had to retire from riding and became the postman for many years -no easy job if any of the outlying farms had post to deliver as it was before the days of the red Royal Mail

van so it had to be by foot or bicycle. On his retirement in 1973 Tom Colley was presented with a watch in recognition of his service. The picture shows this occasion with Tom, centre, wife Lucy, and their grand daughter, Sarah, with postmaster Edwin Cawley outside the old school buildings.

Val Coleman followed as the first post lady until her sad early death in March 1984. She was followed by Josie Coleman (nee Hollowell) who was the daughter of Bertram Hollowell (see Bert Hollowell's notes on Denton life in c.1930 - written c.1980).

Since 23rd June 1958 the post office had been taken over by Iris and Edwin Cawley who ran it from their house in Church Way until their retirement in 1990. The post office facility then passed to the Denton Co-op shop in Main Street but the letter delivery service was separated off. The mail was delivered by Royal Mail delivery postman Les Arnold each day to Bert Hollowell's house, the last cottage on the right leaving the village on the road to Whiston. There the local delivery lady, Bert's daughter Josie Coleman, would sort the post and then deliver round the village. She can remember that when Les Arnold came up the path around 6 am with sacks over his shoulders the sheep in the Penn's field by the house always thought it was feeding time and rushed forward with noisy excitement - but were disappointed daily! This arrangement continued until 1997 when Jo retired and from then on the mail has been both sorted and delivered directly by Royal Mail.

 When the Co-op shop closed a short time later the post office was taken on by the couple who then ran the shop under the name of Acorn Tree Country Stores. They, in turn, only had the shop for a short time before its eventual final closure in about 1993 since which time Denton has been without a post office (or stores) although both Brafield and Yardley Hastings Post Offices remain.

 Letter collections from the 3 post boxes in the village are now once a day in late afternoon with early collection on Saturday and no collection on Sunday and a single delivery each weekday -  an interesting and slightly unfavourable comparison with the service just over 100 years ago as above. 

In recent times we are lucky to have had the stability of a postma, Roland (Roly) Coles who served Denton for around 18 years before his retirement in September 2016 Over that period of time he came to know most people in the village and was a master at knowing where someone might be who was not at home.