A postman who has been delivering to Powys residents for over thirty years is due to retire at the end of the month.
In November 2023, postman Dave Bloom will start his last few weeks as postman for Cefn Coch, Adfa, Llanllugan and other surrounding areas near Llanfair Caereinion.
Mr Bloom first joined the postal service in 1980, having served in the Royal Navy prior to becoming a Powys postman, and worked from Welshpool Post Office for 35 years,
He said: “I’ve always enjoyed my time as a postman. I’ve been out and about getting to know the communities I deliver to, racing around a very pleasant area.
"It hasn’t been easy but I much prefer it to being in an office, which just isn’t for me.
“It’s a very rural place, which means there’s some distance between everyone. But the benefit of a rural area is that everyone knows each other and by extension they got to know me as their postman.
“It’s the little things you pick up on by making a connection over the years. You feel like you’re part of the community as I’ve become used to visiting some people and being seen by them every day. I’d always try to have regular chats with people I made deliveries to,
“It matters a lot in a rural area because so many of the farms and cottages in mid Wales are owned by families, so there’s some people who I’ve been delivering to for the entire 35 years I’ve been doing this job.
“I started as a reserve to fill in for the days when no one else was available to make deliveries to properties further away from the bigger towns in Powys but eventually took on the role full time."
He added: “It’s been pretty consistent over the years. As I said because farms tend to stay under the same owners I found myself meeting with the same people on the same farms year after year. People rarely moved away and that meant I had a strong connection with a permanent community
“The idea of retiring seemed a bit strange at first but Ill make sure to keep busy, even if I’ll miss seeing some of my regular every day.
“People have heard that I’ll soon be off so I expect there’s plenty of goodbyes to come over the next few weeks and especially in my last days on the job.
“It all just goes to show how time can pass surprisingly quickly.”