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Alan Cleaver

@postalpathsguy.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1K following 494 posts

Author of books on UK footpaths. My book, Postal Paths, is due out April 2025 detailing the route used by rural postmen and women in the 19th and 20th Centuries. I live in Cumbria, UK. Follow me if you love walking footpaths. linktr.ee/postalpaths

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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Artist Percy Kelly died in 1993. I call him the 'patron saint' of painted letters as his handwritten letters were works of art in their own right. If you have 2 or 3 hundred quid to spare, some are coming up for auction in a couple of weeks... www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auctio...
Painted envelope by Percy Kelly with calligraphy and drawings of houses.
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
"The loveliest spot that man hath ever found". Poor Nab Well. Wordsworth drank its waters every day and extolled its virtues in a poem but today it lies neglected and forgotten near his former home at Rydal Mount. I guess it will be gone in a few more years.
A lady kneels by the stones around Nab Well at Rydal Mount.
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
The chess section of my library 😉
Crammed full bookcases lit by candles
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
A charming packhorse bridge on the Postman's Path from Langwathby to Glassonby in Cumbria. Once walked by Laal Tommy Post. Now, judging by the state of the path, hardly ever walked by anyone 😥 (Laal - dialect for 'little').
Packhorse bridge over a beck
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Some good news for Scottish folk, particularly those in #Dumfries... I'll be talking about Scotland's postal paths at Thomas Tosh in Thornhill on Wednesday, September 2nd. And @scotways.com l will be getting much praise of course for their work in this regard... www.thomastosh.com/events/2026/...
The Postal path at Rhenigidale
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Lesley and I had to walk out of The Odyssey after half an hour as it was just too loud. And we'd turned our hearing aids off! I thought it was just us getting old but I'm reassured by Google guessing the question before I had finished asking it... So it's not just us?
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Call me paranoid, but last week Elon Musk fired a rocket at the moon. This week, the moon is blocking out the sun and thousands of meteors will rain down on earth. We're at war with the moon people aren't we?
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
There are not many sunken lanes in Cumbria - they are more of a Dorset thing - but ancient Seacross Lonning at Wythop Mill is one of Cumbria's finest. In the current heatwave, the hazel tunnel offers a cool walk. (Lonning = dialect for lane).
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Record of deaths in the village of Lamplugh, Cumbria between 1656 and 1663 shows: * 4 Frightened to death by fairies * 7 Bewitched * 1 led into pond by a Will-O'-The-Wisp * 2 Died of cold in the church You see, archives can be fun! share.google/CJLUig2CUimW...
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I was in Grasmere today when Will Smith from @samreadbookseller.bsky.social ran out and grabbed me kicking and screaming into his shop to sign some books. I signed about 50 and then he clarified he wanted me to sign MY book, The Postal Paths. There's also one rare unsigned book left in the shop 😁
Alan Cleaver in front of Grasmere's postbox
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Reposted by Alan Cleaver
Rónán Hession @ronanhession.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
My new short story Fox Wedding is now online on the @irishtimes.com website Hope you like it. www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
irishtimes.com
Michael-Michael lived to be a 100. He died at a moment of his own choosing
Fox Wedding is a new short story by Leonard and Hungry Paul author Rónán Hession
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
It's a long-established principle that a UK footpath doesn't have to go anywhere. Most go from A to B, but they can also go from A to ...not A. Many, like this one, served an old quarry or mine. Gov inspectors have often declined requests to close a footpath simply because it doesn't go anywhere.
The dotted green line on this map shows a footpath ending nowhere in particular.
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Going up the postal path. Then up the garden path!
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
The 'Spittie Whol' in a wall in Caldbeck, Cumbria - spit in it saying "Once in the hole I spit to guard me safe from fascinating charms", then don't look back to ensure good fortune. It's possibly an old plague stone now set in a drystone wall. Coins are also left in it by villagers.
The spitting stone in a drystone wall.
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Sadly, The Postal Paths didn't win The Lakeland Book Of The Year last night but it was an honour to be shortlisted. Sarah Hall with her book Helm was the worthy winner. So I shall be standing in the Clacton by-election and we'll let the people decide who should really have won!
Lakeland book of the Year winners
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
That's timely! I'm preparing my talk on handwritten letters for Tuesday (June 30) at Tullie House in Carlisle and Mozart's Letter Duet has just played on the radio! tullie.org.uk/events/cumbr...
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
On the hottest June day on record in the UK, we all need a walk down Boggle Lonning in Cumbria
Boggle Lonning (also known as Seacross Lonning) near Embleton in Cumbria
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Do join me!
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Oh my God! Did someone put Trump in charge of water quality at Whitehaven?!
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
"That which takes longer to arrive stays longer in the heart" - The Healing Power of Korean Letter Writing by Juhee Mun
Painted envelope
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
"Never, never, dear Madam (N.B. this remark is addressed to ladies only: no man would ever do such a thing), put “Wednesday”, simply, as the date! That way madness lies.” - Lewis Carroll, Eight or Nine Wise Words about Letter-Writing (1890).
A handwritten letter- the address is fake
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
(Nerd alert!): This is interesting - Royal Mail's special issue stamps (the ones with pretty pictures) featuring waterfalls have just been released and include 2nd Class stamps. Royal Mail stopped doing 2nd Class specials months ago, so I wonder why they have now reintroduced them?
2nd Class stamp featuring a waterfall
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
My thanks to @bookendscarlisle.bsky.social for giving me a 'job' today as a bookseller as part of #IndieBookshopWeek. And which book did I recommend to customers (apart from my own)? It could only be... @ronanhession.bsky.social
Alan Cleaver with a copy of Leonard and Hungry Paul
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
I'm chuffed to say that my book, The Postal Paths, has been shortlisted for this year's Lakeland Book Of The Year award. The awards evening is July 7th - but I'm up against some tough and worthy opposition!
On the postal path at Ambleside
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
I'll be giving a talk on Cumbrian Postal Paths on June 30th (Tullie House, Carlisle), coinciding with an exhibition of the work of late artist Percy Kelly. Kelly is known for his 'painted letters/envelopes' and I'll be also talking about those. Do come along... tullie.org.uk/events/cumbr...
tullie.org.uk
Cumbria's Postal Paths with Alan Cleaver + Percy Kelly Pop Up - Tullie - Museum & Art Gallery
Hear from local author Alan Cleaver about his book The Postal Paths: Rediscovering Britain’s Forgotten Trails And The People Who Walked Them & see artwork by Cumbria's most famous postie Percy Kelly.
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
"There is a charm in footing slow across a silent plain" - Keats
The Postman's Path at Dent, Cumbria
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Just visiting this lovely pub in Rugby, Warwickshire. Guess what it's called? Go on, take a wild guess 😁
Mural.of a squirrel on the side of a pub
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
This delightful photo was taken in June 1970 by A.Michael Davies. He sent it me after reading my book, The Postal Paths, and reading about my walk along the 7-mile path on the Isle of Harris, Scotland. It's a rugged coastal path but postman Duncan MacInnes still wore with pride his uniform.
Postman on the Tarbert to Rhenigidale postal path.
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
"To the dear memory of a little child" - the beautifully touching 1883 stained glass memorial by parents to the son they lost aged four months. Caldbeck church, Cumbria UK #StainedGlassSunday
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
The UK has many footpaths that were once used as 'corpse roads' to take the dead to the mother church for burial. Dales Countryside Museum in North Yorkshire still has a funeral bier apparently used to carry the corpse on the Keld to Grinton corpse road...
A funeral bier
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
The golden age of mail delivery before we invented drones
A postman delivering mail to a woman at a cottage door
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Proof handwriting is beneficial for you...
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
On this day in 1840, the first letters with Penny Black stamps were posted. Today, the UK postal service is in a poor state, but let's keep posting letters - and making them special. #PennyBlackDay
Painted envelope
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
"Illustration is art with a job to do" - Sir Quentin Blake
An Illustrated letter
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
"Come, let us follow by the woodland way, Come, dearest, let us go a-violeting." You won't find violeting on Google, but it was a British custom a century ago of going for a walk to pick a few violets and display them in a small vase in your hallway.
Wood violets
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Do you keep a diary? Are you doing anything interesting on May 12th? Are you doing anything mundane? Then send your diary for that day to the UK Mass Observation Project.. share.google/neq7MlL7G40v...
Alan Cleaver's diary for May 12th 2020
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
A printed envelope by 19thC artist Edward Burne-Jones. Note the clever use of an easel to display the stamp! #MailArt
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Congratulations to Richard Collett on publication day of Along The Borders - a study of those boundaries that define us, divide us, and downright frustrate us.. www.penguin.co.uk/books/462381...
penguin.co.uk
Along the Borders
This is a book about how our borders and boundaries are bridged, and how they bring us together. 'Thoroughly entertaining . . . Along The Borders shows us the borders of the British Isles with all th...
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
My thanks to @fellranger.bsky.social for introducing me to artist Ronin Tanner (1904-1988). This is Wren and Primroses used in the book, Wiltshire Village.
Etching of a wren and primroses
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Reposted by Alan Cleaver
The Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society @letterappsoc.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
It’s #PennyBlackDay on 6th May! Do join us in celebrating this incredible invention! More information via the link… 🥳🎩📮🎉 thehandwrittenletterappreciationsociety.org/help-celebra...
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
My entry into the Winsor & Newton #mailart competition! See their website for details of how you can enter your picture postcard. www.winsornewton.com/pages/global...
Cartoon of a bright yellow duck with an L plate round his neck standing by a pond which has a sign 'Deep End' sticking out of it.
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Watch out for a pack of free watercolor postcards in selected art shops. If you wish you can send one (post free) with a painting of your own to Winsor and Newton with the chance of winning a prize - and there are 15 more to send to friends and family.
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
It's the first anniversary of the publication of my book, The Postal Paths (thankyou all!). It's also the 61st anniversary of the 8-mile Pennine Way, so here's a picture of the Keld to Tan Hill Inn postman's path on the Pennine Way being walked in the 1930s by Jack Rukin..
Postman Jack Rukin crossing stepping stones. Picture: Post Office magazine
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
"A landscape is all about drawing." My good friend and Cumbrian artist Mark Richards @fellranger.bsky.social wowed the audience at Loweswater tonight with tales of his art and his friendship with Alfred Wainwright.
The Postman's Path at Ripon in Yorkshire
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
The narrow and potentially treacherous postman's path at Glenridding in Cumbria. Postman George 'The Post' Teasdale actually managed to ride his GPO bike over this path in the 1950s/60s but I recommend walking it! sites.google.com/view/postal-...
Alan Cleaver on the postal path at Glenridding in Cumbria
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Happy Cuckoo Day everyone! 14 April 2020 - St Tiburtius’ Day share.google/RGK4UIeCxizX...
share.google
14 April 2020 - St Tiburtius’ Day | The Everyday Lore Project
Today I’ve been going cuckoo. Or at least trying to. Today is St Tiburtius’ Day, aka First Cuckoo Day, which kind of gives you a clue...
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
My thanks to the National Trust for letting me rummage today through the library of historic house, Townend at Troutbeck #Cumbria UK - absolutely fascinating selection of local history books and Commonplace books... share.google/Fhc4jDY6tZ3f...
share.google
Townend | Lake District
Visit National Trust's Townend, a hidden gem packed with local history. Step back in time at this historic farmhouse in the Lake District, Cumbria
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Reposted by Alan Cleaver
Miles (they/them)🇪🇺☮️💚📚 @milesr.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
My favourite books I got through in March were: The Postal Paths: @postalpathsguy.bsky.social A Treachery of Swans by A. B. Poranek @abporanek.bsky.social The Roma: A Traveling History by Madeline Potter @madelinepotter.bsky.social 1/2 #booksky
The Postal Paths: Rediscovering Britain’s Forgotten Trails and the People Who Walked Them by Alan CleaverA Treachery of Swans by A. B. PoranekThe Roma: A Traveling History by Madeline Potter
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
19th Century postwoman, Mary Walker, whose route was 9 miles, 6 days a week, through the Kentmere Valley, Cumbria UK. She also cared for her blind husband and their 13 children. Src: A Lakeland Valley Through Time (1995).
Mary Walker postwoman
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Alan Cleaver @postalpathsguy.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
What Is A Stamp? (Other than very expensive? ). Blog from the Royal Mail museum..... www.postalmuseum.org/blog/what-is...?
postalmuseum.org
What is a Stamp? - The Postal Museum
What are they, why do we use them, and how have they changed over time?
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