Sanquhar: Owners of world's oldest Post Office one year on

Barry and Mary Ford swapped the sweltering climates of Florida for the unpredictability of Dumfries and Galloway last year, to take charge of Sanquhar Post Office.

The pair will shortly be celebrating their first-year anniversary as Postmasters at the office, which first opened in 1712 and is the oldest working site in the world.

Lincolnshire-born Barry Ford acquired the High Street business and has run the enterprise with his wife Mary, a native of Motherwell.

The World’s Oldest Post Office, which opened in 1712 (Image: Sandy Young/PA Wire)

They succeeded former Postmistress Nazra Alam, who along with her late husband, postal historian Dr Manzoor Alam, who died in 2022, operated the historic branch from 2015.

Reflecting on the 12 months that have passed, Barry, 61, said: “The welcome from the local community has been wonderful.

"We have been accepted and we have seen our business grow and flourish which is just great. We have customers who bake us cakes and enjoy popping in for a chat which is lovely.”

The key to their success, said Barry, is the face-to-face, old-fashioned customer service provided.

“Our customers enjoy having a person to speak to," he said.

READ MORE: Great news as Sanquhar Post Office finally finds new owners

"Our demographic here is predominantly elderly, some of our customers are in their 90s, and not everyone has a mobile or internet and it’s a great sigh of relief for them to be able to come in and have someone physically help them. Mary and I are always happy to do so.

“The business has grown through word of mouth and that’s the biggest compliment you can receive. People have shared about the products and services we provide and our customer service.

“The Post Office is now open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and we have seen more customers becoming increasingly reliant on our banking services, due to all the local bank closures.

"For many of our regular customers, popping into Sanquhar Post Office is all part of their day out. For example, they’ll have an appointment to get their hair done and then they might pop in to the café to have a bun and a cup of tea and then they will pop in to see Mary andI for their parcels and mails or any other life admin support, which is just lovely.”

Barry and Mary Ford. (Image: Submitted)

As the oldest Post Office in the world, Sanquhar is as popular with tourists as it is with the residents and many pop in to have postcards or letters stamped to bear the Sanquhar postmark.

Having run their own aircraft detailing business in Florida for 20 years, Barry and Mary, 58,  enjoy being entrepreneurs and very much see themselves as ‘custodians’ of Sanquhar Post Office. They are now only the 17th operators of the world’s oldest Post Office.

Barry revealed it was a chance sighting of the ‘for sale’ ad for Sanquhar Post Office which prompted him and Mary to feel a wave of patriotism and make the journey from Florida to Scotland.

He explained: “We were planning on coming back as we couldn’t stay in Florida any longer – we wanted to return to Scotland as Mary is from Motherwell and wanted to return to look after her mother.

"What attracted us initially was a combination of it was the oldest Post Office in the world with accommodation included. It’s also a historic Post Office and I am patriotic – this Post Office is a little British gem that was going to close and we didn’t want that to happen.

“There have only been 17 postmasters of Sanquhar Post Office and we think of ourselves as custodians and caretakers - it is a very privileged place to be.

“This first year has been a steep learning curve, but it’s a fantastic Post Office to run and you never know who is going to walk in and ask for help.

"We have been accepted by the local community, the business is growing and we look forward to being here for many more years to come.”