In The hamlet of Stoneshill, Devon – where we lived on a two acre smallholding 35 years ago – we had a post box that was built into the stone wall of our garden that ran alongside the road.  Twice a day the milk lorry trundled past our cottage filling up with rich full cream milk from the surrounding dairy farms and twice a day the postman stopped outside and emptied the letters from the box into the sack in his van. More often than not the box was empty save for a few snails and the occasional wood louse!

By coincidence there is a letter box just outside The Gables which is emptied at 5.15 every day.  How very convenient, although a letter that I posted last week with a first class stamp took three days to arrive in London!