About Maurice Popplewell

From the Huddersfield Daily Examiner - 24 February 1986

Maurice Popplewell is a man of letters. Thousands of them.

All his life he has enjoyed putting pen to paper. His comfortable Liversedge home has a telephone, but it is almost a luxury. Now he wants other people to return to letter writing, which for many is a forgotten art. His list of correspondents is amazing. There are political figures like Margaret Thatcher, David Steel, Michael Foot and Tony Benn. French film starlet Brigitte Bardot replied to his letter asking for her favourite saying or quotation with a delightful floral drawing; humorists Frank Muir and Denis Norden, as expected, replied with sardonic wit.

Mr Popplewell, a 73 year old former public relations man, does not confine his letter writing to the famous. Much of is time is spent on complaints; but the letters he drafts to huge companies like British Leyland or Marks and Spencer are always tinged with a biting criticism. Equally, those letters are balanced by the ones he writes to people and organisations whenever thanks are merited. And his letters regularly appear in newspapers up and down the country. Indeed, he and a local Councillor were once described in print as "the ageing, bilious Laurel and Hardy of the Spen Valley" after one healthy disagreement in a letters column.

Obviously, the postman is a frequent visitor to the house in Quaker Lane. But equally. the Post Office will be delighted with the income it receives from Mr Popplewell's intriguing pastime. He files all the letters he receives in meticulous fashion, and catalogues them for future reference. It enables him to present an hilarious and popular talk to local organisations ranging from Rotary Clubs to pensioners' luncheon groups. His other passion is local history, which is also a broad subject for many of his talks, but inevitably it is the letters that people want to hear about.

"I am trying to get people to write more letters to each other. I despair of this who say 'phone instead' or 'say it with flowers.' There is never a permanent record of anything like that, whereas I have retained all my letters over the years. You can re-read old letters time and time again and still find pleasure in them. Obviously people do use the telephone because of its convenience but I just feel something is lacking. People also criticise the cost of postage, at 17p for a stamp, but when the Penny Post was introduced in 1840 that was a massive sum compared to wages. Today's cost would have to be £1 to be at the same level. Everyone loves to see the postman coming up the garden path. He may bring bills but then he brings a letter and people, especially the elderly, love to sit and read it."

Mr Popplewell began his hobby of collecting quotations from the famous more than 30 years ago, and has only ever been rejected or ignored twice. He wrote to Ronald Reagan in America three years ago, and is still waiting for a reply, and sent a letter to miners' leader Arthur Scargill a few months before the start of the coal strike. Again, there was no reply. He was luckier with the "other side" of the coal dispute. Coal Board chairman Ian McGregor sent him a warm reply, quoting former US President Calvin Coolidge on the values of persistence and determination.

"I approach people who I think will leave their mark on my generation. It may be a good mark or a bad mark, but they will have an impact. Tony Benn, for instance, is not a favourite of mine but he will be remembered. I wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury about the appointment of the new Bishop of Durham, and received a very long reply which essentially passed the buck. Norman Tebbit told me he was too busy to reply at length, receiving 1000 letters a day, and Mrs Thatcher sent me her favourite piece of prose from Kipling. I also do a lot of complaining. I have complained about anything that was not satisfactory - a sun strip for my car, Eno's salts in a bottle too small, an over-baked Christmas cake, a change in a recipe. There is an art to it. A good complaining letter should always be honest and forceful, and should always go to the man at the very top. It always draws a reply because even the biggest companies hate criticism."

This favourite of the Post Office was born in Heckmondwike, attending the local grammar school, where he excelled. At 16, he did what he had always expected to do and started work as an office clerk. In 1934 he was awarded a scholarship and travelled to Germany to learn the language. It was a period of tremendous change in that country, and the young Mr Popplewell found himself sharing a holiday home with members of Hitler's Youth Movement.
"I only got on the holiday because I told them I worked for the Daily Mail. We had to give the Nazi salute every morning, and whenever you saw the flag."
His experience of German stood him in good stead during the war, where he served as an Army Captain and took part in courts martial. After the war he returned to West Yorkshire and in 1946 he joined the giant BBA group at Cleckheaton. He was to spend more than 32 years with the company, retiring in 1977 as group public relations officer.
"It was an exciting job. It meant meeting people, which I enjoyed, and there was a sense of freedom. I also had a special interest in the company's workforce and I served for many years on a welfare committee. I also founded a retired employees' club, which is now thriving with more than 1000 members. Many of the letters I received while at BBA have been kept and I use many of them in my talks. Many people unintentionally make hilarious mistakes when writing letters, or filling in official forms. But I collect letters or snippets writing from any source. I have copies of love letters from Napoleon to Josephine, from Lord Nelson to Lady Hamilton and letters written home from soldiers at the front. History does fascinate me, especially local history, and I have thousands of cuttings from local papers in Spen Valley."

In and among the letters and press clippings, he finds time to be secretary of the local Probus Club, which is an organisation of retired businessmen and professional people who meet every fortnight for lunches and talks. And he enjoys spending time with his wife Margaret, who he married 45 years ago. The couple have two children, now married, and share their home with a lively fox terrier bitch called Judy. Inevitably, though, he always returns to his letters. He plans to send out many, many more and is constantly compiling a list of recipients.

"I want a word with Larry Adler at the moment. I have always admired him as a musician and I am sure he will be interesting. I'll get in touch - and I'll send him a stamped addressed envelope, as it is only polite."

Read the first in his series of articles here: