Postcard From Australia Arrives 42 Years Late In Kent
A postcard from Australia has landed in a household letterbox in Kent, addressed to someone who lived there 42 years ago
Talk about slow mail! A homeowner in Kent was stunned after her children opened the envelope expecting a Christmas card, only to discover it was an old postcard from Australia dated 27 August 1981.
The postcard features an old image of Sydney Opera House and what appears to be a sneak peek at performances of the time.
Samantha Williams, who now lives at the address in Westgate, Kent says they would love to find the person that the postcard was intended for. The addressee is Steve Padgett and the postcard included a handwritten message from someone called Gerry.
“They were obviously good friends and it may mean a lot to him,” Samantha told BBC News.
The postcard contains a short, handwritten message addressed to Steve Padgett from Gerry.
Message reads: Dear Padge, You can’t believe this but have just read your letter dated 5 May!! Sorry to not have been in touch, but what can you say *illegible*. Will write tomorrow, hope you enjoyed summer since I couldn’t have arranged job or holiday for this one – having brilliant time, place to be. All the best, Gerry.
Padgett or ‘Padge’ as referred to in the postcard is believed to have lived with his parents at the address during the 1980s. Samantha noticed that the postcard has a cheaper 32 cent stamp on it, which led her to believe maybe it had gotten lost in mountains of more urgent mail and has been stuck at a sorting office in Australia or in the UK for an incredible 40 years.
When asked by the BBC for information, a Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “It is difficult to speculate what may have happened to this item of mail, but it is likely that it was put back into the postal system by someone recently, rather than it being lost or stuck somewhere.
“Royal Mail regularly checks all its delivery offices and clears its processing machines daily.
“Once an item is in the postal system then it will be delivered to the address on the card.”
So maybe poor Gerry just forgot to post it at all!
Long gone are the heydays of postcards. Have you any postcard memories or stories to share?
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