My book on this subject is published (April 2024) with Monoray and is available from all bookshops and online bookstores. The book describes my personal journey into the subject starting with a chance remark by a Cumbrian farmer about a postal path going from his farm to his neighbour. I had not heard of the term before so began researching these 'short-cuts' that had such an evocative name. It is usually a local term for a short-cut created or used by a postman (or woman) but I decided to investigate the complete routes (or 'walks') of the rural posties. The book tells of my research and the walks I made along those paths. I travelled as far south as Cornwall and as far north as the Isle of Harris (and I'm still travelling!). On the way, I met some of the surviving rural posties (the routes were phased out in the 1960s) including the postman who was almost certainly Britain's last rural postman.

ILLUSTRATOR MARK RICHARDS: Mark Richards is a pen & ink artist with a passion for scenic and heritage landscapes. Influenced by the comic artists of the 1950s, developing his style from the likes of Jack Prout, Frederick Griggs and Robin Tanner, later mentored by Alfred Wainwright, who drew him to craft guidebooks that nurtured a love of the great outdoors. 

Order the book from here.

'A delightful exploration of one of our most important cultural figures in the community, the postman. Postal Paths journeys around the UK, unearthing forgotten stories... You will never look at a postman in the same way again.'

-REBECCA SMITH, author of Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside 

'As a fan of handwritten letters, I am so pleased this book exists! With detailed research, Cleaver manages to bring to life the lives of those who served their communities when there was no such thing as the internet... I am delighted that their stories are being told.'

• KIRAN SIDHU, journalist and author of I Can Hear the Cuckoo