The Postman’s Path into Baysdale

Taken from the old postman’s path, part of the route walked daily by the Kildale postman, which, according to Cedric Anthony’s book Glimpses of Kildale History, was the longest round in the country. For many years Derrick Dale was the postman. He lived in a cottage near the railway station. Originally mail was sorted at Grosmont and later at Whitby and would arrive by the morning train. Derrick would meet the train and take the mail to the old post office to be sorted. He would then set off on his round. In all weathers he walked, taking in all the outlying farms, into Lonsdale and Baysdale, 14 miles in total. His final task of the day would be to empty the postbox outside of the post office and take the mail to meet the return train to Grosmont. It wasn’t until the 1980s when Derrick retired that a post van was assigned.