Retiring postie a "huge miss" after three decades in Huntly area

An Aberdeenshire postie who is retiring from his rural round after nearly three decades’ service has been hailed as a “superstar” by locals.

Bill Reid, 65, has posted his last letter after 28 years as a postman.

After 12 years in the air force, and five working for construction company RB Farquhar, Bill picked up his first postbag in 1996 and never looked back.

He spent six years doing various rounds in the Huntly area, before making the Forgue-Largue round his own for 22 years.

Bill, who lives in Keith, has become a much-loved figure in the process.

When the Huntly Toon Blether page on Facebook got wind that he’d be calling it a day at the end of March, hundreds reacted, with scores of comments paying tribute to a “superstar”, a “beautiful soul”, and a “great, caring postie”. More than one said he’d be a “huge miss”.

Bill’s departure sparked a huge reaction among locals. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

Retiring postie took kids – and grandkids – on his round

Bill’s daughter Hazel wrote: “Thank you for such a lovely post – Dad was telling me all about the show of love he’s gotten.

“He’s going to miss all of the lovely people on his round.

“We’re very proud of Dad. I’ve vivid memories of coming to people’s houses to help out in some way. It’s left such a lasting impression that his grandkids are the same.”

The first question The P&J asked Bill was: Why become a postie?

It’s fair to say he took a roundabout route to the service, but one that was “meant to be.”

“I was down in London working with RB Farquhar,” said Bill.

“I came back up the road and believe it or not the bosses said: ‘We forgot you were down there, here’s three weeks notice’. Which I was slightly peed off about.

“When I saw my brother standing outside the post office not long after – he was a postman – he said: ‘Go and ask the manager in there’.

“So I did, and the manager said: ‘Aye, fine, can you start tomorrow?’

“It was just sheer chance, it was like it was meant to be.”

Newly retired postie Bill Reid. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

Bill saved three sheep…

Bill and his rural postal round soon turned out to be a match made in heaven.

“I was a rural postie, doing farms and such, it was just stunning.

“I’d drive between 60 and 70 miles a day, delivering to 240 addresses.

“You’ve got probably an hour in the morning together [with the other posties] and then you’re out on your own.

“And no two days were the same.

“Over the years I’ve saved three sheep. When their wool gets wet and heavy they can land on their back, and they can’t get up.

“So I’d jump over the fence and take a hold of them and get them back on their feet. Otherwise they’d die.”

Bill even received a retirement cake. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

…and saw people come and go

I asked Bill what he’d miss most about the job, and he didn’t hesitate in his answer.

“The people.

“Obviously if you’ve been on the same round for 22 years you see people losing mothers and fathers, babies being born, you see the whole cycle.

“If you chat to folk they’ll tell you where to leave parcels, and so I leave them there, and they appreciate that because otherwise their parcels go back to Huntly which is maybe a 10-mile drive for them to pick up their parcel.

“Basically, if you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours. That’s the way it’s been the whole time.

“Occasionally they’ll say they’re short of bread, or short of milk, and I’ll take it out to them.”

Such is Bill’s popularity on his route that residents had a whip round on learning of his retirement. He was presented with an envelope containing a “four figure” sum.

“I’d really like to thank all the people of Largue and Forgue for their generosity,” he said.

“I was very, very surprised by the envelope, and touched that they’d got together like that.”