Description:A smile and a greeting with the latest news delivered by Mrs Violet Astley, of Seighford, who walked eight miles a day, six days a week on her morning paper round. She is seen here delivering a newspaper to Harry Clarke Senior, wheelwright at his home at White Cottage.
Mrs Astley’s alarm clock was always half an hour fast and set to ring at 6.00am, for on this depended on whether the inhabitants of the village and surrounding area would get their morning newspapers in time for breakfast. Over the years Mrs Astley estimated that she had walked around 25,000 miles during the previous 10 years delivering newspapers. Her eight mile walk started at 6.40am when she left her home in Smithy Lane for the Post Office at Great Bridgeford to pick up her daily load of newspapers. It was then back to Seighford and her first customer was Major R C Eld, the Squire of Seighford, then on to farms and cottages near the aerodrome, calling at the County Police Motor Training Centre at Seighford Hall, returning to the village she would take a break to give her fowl their morning feed and then on to finish her round.
From each of the homes she visited to deliver the newspapers she would get 2d. (Tuppence) a week which helped to supplement the income she had from taking in her neighbours washing. The small amount she received from delivering newspapers was not the main consideration for doing the job. Mrs Astley aged 53 years, said she had thought about giving it up when she was 50 but it has been something to do and it meant that she saw people to talk to on her round. Mrs Astley was a member of the Great Bridgeford Women’s Institute for eight years and was on the Committee. She had volunteered to distribute the Institute’s magazine “Home and Country”.
This photograph was published in the Staffordshire Newsletter on Saturday 1 March 1952. Reproduced by kind permission of the Staffordshire Newsletter who retain copyright.