Speaking of posties, I once spent a day with one who had one of the most rural rounds in Britain. Here's the article I wrote for Farmers Weekly, if you're interested:
Two pubs, a quarry, a youth hostel, an outdoor centre, a tiny village school and, of course, lots of hill farms all get their deliveries from Co Durham postman Norman Dunbar.
"It's nothing like being a town postie - it's a different job altogether," says Norman, whose working day starts at 5am.
Norman's round starts in Barnard Castle but soon takes him out into the Teesdale countryside. He covers about 65 miles on a typical day, with the remotest farm on his patch about five miles from its nearest neighbour. "In winter, you can't hear a single thing up here," he says.
It's a glorious July day when Farmers Weekly visits - one of the best, Norman says, in what's been a dreadful season. The sun's out, the farmers are itching to get haymaking and Norman has a quick word with some as he delivers their mail.
What's happening on the farm is a key topic of conversation and Norman - a self-confessed townie - has got to know a lot about agriculture since starting this round about 12 years ago. On one occasion, a woman even asked him to help deliver a calf.
Winters, however, can be tough on this remote and high ground. "I've always got a shovel in the back of the van.
"That's about the only downside of the job - it's often dark and windy and cold. When you get right up on top," he laughs. "If the wind drops, the people fall over."
Norman's learned not to be lulled into a false sense of security about the weather. "It can change in seconds. I've known it to be warm and sunny one minute, then hailing the next."
Some of the roads up to the farms, meanwhile, have five or six gates. "You get to know when stock's around and when you can leave the gates open," he says. "Mind you, you can misjudge it, make a mistake - and end up running round like a madman in the field."
Everyone knows him and he'll grab a quick cup of tea somewhere on his round if there's time. His customers have become his friends. "They send me postcards when they go on holiday," he says.
He's even become a bit of a celebrity in the local school with its 15 pupils, with a number of the children knowing him as Postman Pat.
And, in true postman style, he's got to know a lot of the dogs on his round. "I quite often have a bag of dog biscuits with me. I try to make friends with them."
As for tips at Christmas, he reckons he does really well. Whisky, money, even the odd brace of pheasants are often given to him by his customers-cum-friends. "I feel sorry for town posties in that respect!"
It's all a far cry from life as a steelworker on Teesside - the job Norman had as a young man.
"It's funny," he says. "I hated Thatcher for making us redundant, but in the end she did us a favour. I love Barnard Castle, it's a great place."
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