THE SUBPOSTMASTER - JUNE ISSUE

Retail Post Office in focus
COMMUNITY
FOCUSED
Gary Walters BEM this year celebrates 40
years as the postmaster of Menheniot Post
Office. He tells Simon King about his career,
which saw him start, aged 18, as the
youngest postmaster in the country
ary Walters, like his father
G
before him, was born in the
village of Menheniot, which
is located around two miles
south-east of Liskeard in Cornwall.
His father, a builder, bought the shop
when Gary was five years old and his
mother worked in the shop, with Gary
helping out on weekends and after
school, before taking on the business at
18.
Importance of the Post Office
“It’s very important to the community
to have a post office and shop, as it’s
the focal point of the village,” Gary said.
“Everyone comes to meet and chat,
and I know most people.
“It’s the place where you come to
book the village hall, and where you
buy tickets for the pantomime. I ran
Scouts in the village for 10 years and I’ve
been the treasurer of the hall since the
late 1980s.”
Gary said being a subpostmaster is a
rewarding role.
“Everybody seems to like me, and
everybody knows me,” he said. “If
somebody wants something, they only
have to ask, and I’ll do it. Postmasters
are seen as a pillar of the community,
and I’ve been here all my life.”
Outreach, Home Service and
Partner Sites
When the Network Transformation
programme started in 2012, Gary was
selected as an Outreach provider.
“I started off with three Outreach
services and over the next six months, I
ended up with a dozen or so – it didn’t
take very long to get to a dozen,” Gary
said. “The most I’ve
ever had is 21, but
now it’s coming
down.”
Gary currently runs
13 Outreach services
in Darite, Downderry,
East Taphouse, Kingsand,
Lostwithiel, Millbrook,
Pensilva, Rilla Mill, St Neot,
Tregadillett, Tetcott, Tideford and
Trewidland.
“I’ve got three Outreach kits which
we go out with to village halls,” Gary
said. “Three of the kits are out three
days a week; and two of the kits are out
on the other two days in the week.”
Gary is currently in negotiations with
Post Office Ltd (PO), and he believes
that some of the Outreach services will
be cut.
In addition to the Outreach services
he provides, Gary also offers a Home
Service to a number of customers.
“I still have customers using the
home service,” he said. “Through the
DDA procedure that PO has, I can cash
cheques for customers in their home.”
Gary originally had six Partner Sites,
and he now runs two Partner Sites in
Polruan and Lerryn.
“I fund them, I look after them, I pay
them, and PO pays me,” Gary said. “In
theory, they’re my employees, but
they’ve got their own shop.”
Changing retail industry
Gary is a Spar customer, and he gets
his goods from Appleby Westward. He
said that during his time in business,
the retail sector has changed
dramatically.
“Postmasters
are seen as a
pillar of the
community. I’ve
been here my
whole life”
“John Irish CBE
pioneered the ‘8 to
Late’ concept in Spar,
which brought
trading in the
evening,” Gary said.
“Before that it was
always 9am-5.30pm on
Mondays, Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays;
Wednesdays and Saturdays were both
half days and on Sundays we wouldn’t
open at all.
“We closed at 10pm for a while, then
we moved to 9pm. Through Covid we
closed at 8pm and now we’ve settled
on 7pm.”
Gary pointed out that 40 years ago,
the Walters family used to have two
shops in the village – the post office
and grocery store, while the other store
was non-food, selling gifts, toys, ladies
underwear, gardening items, paint
brushes, pans, and plastic bowls.
“It was the place everybody came to
in this community, they didn’t go
anywhere else,” Gary said. “Retailing
has changed massively. Years ago,
there were no out-of-town
supermarkets, and now some of these
include post offices.”
Gary said that chilled is the most
popular category in his store and milk
is the biggest seller.
“Retail is very important,” he said.
“The village shop sells many things and
the post office is part of that mix – if
you want a meal, you can get a meal
here.”
Banking takes off
Banking has become popular in Gary’s
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The SubPostmaster June 2024