BARNSLEY’S ‘oldest paper boy’ and his wife are bringing an end to their 33-year stint at their Post Office branch.
Jim and Jackie Parkinson ran the Post Office on Huddersfield Road in Wilthorpe before retiring yesterday - and they’re looking forward to taking some time away.
The branch has been taken over by Ash and Priti Patel, who also own the shop two doors down.
Jackie said: “I was a bit worried at first to be quite honest, but I’m excited to be finishing now.
“It’ll be lovely in winter when it’s snowing and I know I don’t have to go to work.”
A lot has changed in the business over the last three decades and all of it has been seen by Jim and Jackie - but they’ve also had loyal customers by their side since the start.
Jackie added: “Things have changed drastically - we’ve gone from paying hundreds of pensioners every week with pension books to now doing a lot more things by post.
“We’ve got a lot more couriers and we do a lot more with travel as well.
“Even though things have changed, we do still see some of the customers we had when we first started.
“We had one customer come in the other day, who we’ve had all along, to say goodbye and that was quite sad.”
