The Royal Hotel, Ventor,
Nothing unusual in that you say. Only that the card sent to make the request was posted some ninety six years ago. The half penny stamp bore the image of King Edward VII who died in 1910.
Asked to comment a Post Office spokesman remarked,
‘This only proves that eventually – like our great forebears of Wells Fargo – the Post Office delivers triumphantly.
Indeed this is so long ago, I wouldn’t be surprised if Wells Fargo didn’t have a hand in it!
Really, the Royal Hotel ought to be surcharged because the face value of the stamp does not cover the current postage charge. But in the circumstances, we are prepared to be magnanimous and overlook the surcharge.’
Perhaps the postman who delivered it ought to be grateful that he didn’t suffer the fate common to today’s bearers of bad news: i.e. ‘shoot the messenger!’
But then again, Piers Moran is supposedly seeking a