Post Offices on Stations

[Jan Mayen]

Are there any stations with a Post Office on them?
I'm aware Amberley did have one until the 60's, and I believe Corrour did until the 80's. Just wondering if any still do. Anyone know?

Edit: Just found this closed thread. I was wondering if there any stations with an open post office. I'm guessing there probably aren't, but thanks for any replies.

Post Offices on railway stations

I'm a member of the Railway Philatelic Group and we are researching which railway stations had post offices on them. Many of the offices were in Scotland, but they can be found across the country. In many cases the postmaster was also the station master. Even today there continue to be a small...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Bob55G]

Are there any stations with a Post Office on them?
I'm aware Amberley did have one until the 60's, and I believe Corrour did until the 80's. Just wondering if any still do. Anyone know?

Ilkley does, housed in part of the main station building.

 

[Jan Mayen]

Ilkley does, housed in part of the main station building.

Many thanks

 

[philjo]

There is a Post office counter next to the ticket office at Oxenholme station but it is now only open for 2 hours a week on Mondays.
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-finder/0724726/oxenholme

 

[johntea]

Not quite a Post Office in the traditional sense but parcel lockers are becoming a growing trend, you can both drop off and collect (handily they even have a label printer built into them so you can book your postage online then get an actual label for your package at the machine rather than faffing about at home trying to print one out!)

Parcel delivery lockers coming to 50 railway stations across the North of England | Northern News

As many as 50 railway stations across the North of England are set to get new parcel delivery lockers.

media.northernrailway.co.uk

As many as 50 railway stations across the North of England are set to get new parcel delivery lockers.
It follows a deal between Northern and Quadient who operates parcel lockers at more than 20,800 locations around the world.
Parcel Pending by Quadient is a growing network of smart lockers that are used for deliveries from major carriers including Royal Mail, DPD, Evri and UPS - and for new services such as convenient key drop-offs with Keynest across the UK.
Lockers have already been installed at stations in Apperley (West Yorkshire), Bamford (Derbyshire), Burnley (Lancashire), Clifton (Greater Manchester), Euxton (Lancashire) and Penistone (South Yorkshire).
By the end of September, lockers will also be installed at stations in:

• Adlington, Disley and Lostock Gralam in Cheshire
• Hathersage in Derbyshire
• Bolton, Hag Fold, Hyde North and Humphrey Park in Greater Manchester
• Burnley in Lancashire
• Ulleskelf and Lealholm in North Yorkshire
• Alnmouth in Northumberland

A further 30 locations across the Northern network are currently being identified, with a view to lockers being installed by spring 2025.

 

[D365]

Not quite a Post Office in the traditional sense but parcel lockers are becoming a growing trend, you can both drop off and collect (handily they even have a label printer built into them so you can book your postage online then get an actual label for your package at the machine rather than faffing about at home trying to print one out!)

Parcel delivery lockers coming to 50 railway stations across the North of England | Northern News

As many as 50 railway stations across the North of England are set to get new parcel delivery lockers.

media.northernrailway.co.uk

Dore & Totley, Grindleford [and I’m sure many other stations too] have Amazon lockers.

 

[John Griffiths]

There are plenty of WH Smiths on stations - can the Post Offices be far behind?

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Are there any stations with a Post Office on them?
I'm aware Amberley did have one until the 60's, and I believe Corrour did until the 80's. Just wondering if any still do. Anyone know?

I am not aware of Corrour having a Post Office - I don't think it did and mail was not put on - or off - trains there, but both Rannoch and Bridge of Orchy had the Post Office and Sorting Office in the station building with 'railway' staff also receiving payemnt from the Post Office.

 

[Pigeon]

There are plenty of WH Smiths on stations - can the Post Offices be far behind?

Well that's how WH Smiths got started...

 

[stadler]

There is a Post office counter next to the ticket office at Oxenholme station but it is now only open for 2 hours a week on Mondays.
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-finder/0724726/oxenholme

Wow that must have the restrictive opening hours of any Post Office in the country! Open only on Monday from 13:30 to 15:30 only! What is even the point in opening that little. I suppose it is still useful if you are a local resident and can not get to another Post Office and happen to have spare time at that specific time but it still seems very odd. Is there a reason for it being open so little? There must be a story behind how they chose to open once a week on Monday from 13:30 to 15:30 only?

 

[D365]

There are plenty of WH Smiths on stations - can the Post Offices be far behind?

Well that's how WH Smiths got started...

And are now again refocusing on their travel outlets by selling off the high street operation.

 

[Pinus contorta]

Wow that must have the restrictive opening hours of any Post Office in the country! Open only on Monday from 13:30 to 15:30 only! What is even the point in opening that little. I suppose it is still useful if you are a local resident and can not get to another Post Office and happen to have spare time at that specific time but it still seems very odd. Is there a reason for it being open so little? There must be a story behind how they chose to open once a week on Monday from 13:30 to 15:30 only?

Our local PO is rumoured to be closing. And when you stop and think about everything involved in transferring the counter elsewhere, even for diminished opening hours, such as IT installation, cash handling/ transferral , training staff how to do the job etc etc. I suspect it probably becomes unviable to open longer hours, train extra folks up.

 

[Skiddaw]

Wow that must have the restrictive opening hours of any Post Office in the country! Open only on Monday from 13:30 to 15:30 only! What is even the point in opening that little. I suppose it is still useful if you are a local resident and can not get to another Post Office and happen to have spare time at that specific time but it still seems very odd. Is there a reason for it being open so little? There must be a story behind how they chose to open once a week on Monday from 13:30 to 15:30 only?

It's not uncommon in rural areas. We have a PO van that calls in the village for an hour once per week.

 

[Supercoss]

Not forgetting the Travelling Post Office TPO trains that had an on board letter box allowing letters to be posted on board at certain calling stations.
Although long since finished quire collectible to get letter ‘ franked’ by TPO stamp

 

[mailbyrail]

Corrour post office opened 15 December 1896, and remained open until 5 March 1977.
It was always on the railway station, operated by railway staff with the GPO paying for their services. One of its busiest periods was posting out game birds every autumn. Dead birds were simply addressed with a label tied around the neck and sent with no wrapping except their own feathers remaining attached.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Corrour post office opened 15 December 1896, and remained open until 5 March 1977.
It was always on the railway station, operated by railway staff with the GPO paying for their services. One of its busiest periods was posting out game birds every autumn. Dead birds were simply addressed with a label tied around the neck and sent with no wrapping except their own feathers remaining attached.

Well, I didn't know that but my ignorance can be attributed to it having closed eight months before my railway career started on the West Highland line.
Thanks for this info.

 

[mailbyrail]

Thanks Philjo for the info about Oxenholme, that had passed me by
Digging further into it was interesting reading - Tim Farron, the local MP, was the driver behind it but Avanti West Coast seemed to be keen on the idea and released quite a few press releases back in November 2022 when the service began, initially twice a week but now just the one afternoon.

 

[Revilo]

Not a Post Office, but Starcross station used to have a part-time sub-branch of the National Westminster Bank as part of the station building. It closed in the 1990s I think, to become a fish and chip shop.