Old Post Office Cottages, July 2001
P is for Post Office, which sadly closed on 25th November 1993, after a period of part-time post office business. The fact that the grocery side had already finished in 1990, reflected our new shopping habits. “Post Office Cottages” became thus in 1937 (previously being housed in Church Street and before then, what is now Rose Cottage, which at the time was also the Bakehouse). The business was known as “Clover and Harmer”, but Mr. Clover died as a result of an accident, and George Harmer, then his assistant, took over the business. George’s wife, Daisy and sister, Elsie “manned” the shop when George was called up in 1941. During the War, the building was often teeming with Evacuees. It was a typical village shop, with sweets and groceries wrapped as you waited. The building gradually became the property of the Harmers, it originally housing three large families, being part of the Costessey Hall Estate, until it was sold to the Barclays in 1919.
When the Harmers finally left in 1970, the stability of ownership also ceased, with a succession of owners and postmasters/mistresses. Names some villagers will remember are the Sucklings (1970 for two years), the Lancasters (1972-1978), the Roberts, who also ran a specialised printing service from 1978 to 1986, and finally the Williams from 1986 until its closure. Sadly since then, of course, we have had a succession of further closures of local Post Offices, mirroring a general trend. But with the arrival of the Hipwells in 1994, new life was certainly breathed into the centuries-old building, and with it their interest in its history and a desire to preserve and conserve it.