Presentation to Merton postman

To mark his retirement and in appreciation of his punctuality and cheerfulness as a postman for the past 43 years, the people of Merton on Friday presented Mr Sydney Cox with an armchair.

Apart from two brief spells of illness, he has since 1920 delivered mail in the area without a break.

Despite a leg injury in the first world war, he has always walked the eight-mile round with the aid of a stick. It has been calculated that in 43 years Mr Cox has tramped well over 107,000 miles in the course of his work.

His punctuality is well known and it has been said that people can set their clocks by him, no matter how severe the weather.

It was indeed, quite a week for Mr Cox, for on the Wednesday he celebrated his 65th birthday. He is to stay on at Merton – he has lived in New Road Cottage for 55 years – where he will spend a lot of time gardening.

Gazette article dated 3 May 1963