Delivering Leaflets - Part 2

by Colin MY COMPUTER TUTOR

Hereford's an old town and I put leaflets through a wide variety of doorways. Many of the residential streets are Victorian or Edwardian, many others are 1930's and there has been a lot of housing put up within the last 20 years too.

My own street has some three storey Georgian houses at one end and late 20th century houses at the other. The houses in between, including mine, are mid-19th century, built for the railway station staff. The stationmaster's house really is a cut above the rest - that post had a high status in 1860!

I walk up to lots of different doorways when I'm out with the leaflets and I make a quick assessment of the letterbox as I approach. This door on the right is close to being perfect. It's right up my street...literally! No, seriously, it has a decent-sized letterbox and a step up to it. It's one of the Georgian houses. Pity that the fittings aren't original Georgian but perhaps the colour is a close attempt!

The step is good because as I turn away I get a good spring off it and on to the next house...

The letterbox is good because it's a good size, there's no flap to lift and this style rarely has those horrible bristles beyond them! (I know they're supposed to keep the draught out, but they can mangle my leaflets something terrible!)

This fine door is Edwardian, I think. Set in a porch with a proper coir doormat.

As I approach along the driveway I have time to fold the leaflet (without creasing it) because I can see that this style of letterbox is smaller - probably original.

Shame about the glass, though!

Now this is a horror - I hate them.

This mimsy little letterbox has a flap that pushes back and up, which needs two hands! So you tuck the wodge of leaflets under your armpit, fold the leaflet, push the flap back with one hand and then squeeze the leaflet either left or right of the flap.

Then you find those wretched bristles in the way too!

Original '30s glass, though....

And these!

Who designed these?

Not a postman, or anyone who has ever put anything through a letterbox, that's for sure!

This is the

BreakBack Door...

...at least you would see the waiting dog through the glass!

More on them later

When there's a porch with a letterbox...and a door with a letterbox, I always make the effort to go into the porch and post the leaflet through the door.

I want to make sure the household see my leaflet, and I'm never sure if they actually use the front door. The leaflet could sit in that porch for months...quite often I see a pile of freebie newspapers and those charity bags.

So I make the effort to get my leaflet across the threshold.

Similarly with these. Yes, they're easy to 'flip' - some of them are 'top-loading' - but if there's a letterbox through the door I'll use that.

Get that leaflet into the house!

This box was right up near the house, but I have found some placed at the end of long driveways. You'd think that this would be helpful to the postman - and to me - but when I see the cobwebs over the slot I make the effort to walk up that driveway.