'I found something really special in Culmore': Newly-retired postman Stephen Butler reflects on 32 years

While he worked the majority of his 32 years as a Royal Mail postman delivering to the area, it’s not just the roads and houses that Stephen is familiar with.

He knows the people, the stories, the sadness and joy that the people he met every day have experienced over the decades.

There were the ‘tea houses’ he’d stop in for a break, the older people he’d light fires for and the children, now grown-up, who never forgot that he delivered their 11 plus results.

He delivered good news and bad, dreaded bills and greetings from across the world. And, while a surprise appreciation night held in Culmore Community Hub showed Stephen the esteem in which he was held by his customers, he loves them just as much.

Stephen sat down with the Journal recently to reflect on his 32 years as a postman in Derry and told how he found ‘something really special in Culmore’.

The father-of-three sons left school in 1975 and worked in the factories before being employed by Viking Cycles.

After spotting an advert in the paper from Royal Mail and aware that Viking Cycles was soon to close, Stephen attended an interview. The job itself was part-time and on a six-month contract – which he was promised would be extended. So, with the blessing of his wife, Una, in February 1987 Stephen began working for Royal Mail and never looked back.

He recalled how, at that time, postmen were required to wear a shirt and tie and his first delivery route began in Browning Drive and ended in Newbuildings.

"It was a big area to cover but, in those days, you started at 5am and I was up from 4.15am. My wife worked in a bank at the time, so I could be home by 1.30pm or 2pm and be able to collect the boys from school. It was the perfect arrangement.

"I liked the job from the start, too. The boys in there really took care of you and showed you what you needed to know. When I started with Royal Mail, the sorting office was in Derry. It’s now a delivery office. All the mail from the city went into that sorting office. There was a lot of good craic in there and laughter.”

Changes in the Royal Mail in 1990 asked for postmen to choose an area in which to deliver and Stephen picked Culmore.

"I really wanted it. I loved the area and I was so nervous that someone was going to pick it before I did. Thank God, they didn’t.”

From 1990 to 2003, he was the ‘only man’ delivering in the area and due to the huge expansion of the area this has now increased to four.

For Stephen, everyone he has delivered to on his route over the last 25 years has become a firm friend.

"I never had customers in Culmore. They were all friends. There are a lot of really, really good families in Culmore, who have extended families in the area. I’ve delivered to people over the years and I now deliver to their children and grandchildren. I delivered for three and a half years within the city, but when I went to Culmore, I found something really special.”

He recalled seeing children grow up and get married, with people in the community ‘lining the streets’ on wedding days to wave them off. Or gathering to say goodbye to much loved community members at their wakes and funerals.

"It’s hard to put into words what I found there, right from the first day. My first ‘tea house,’ as we’d call them, was at the old post office down at Culmore Point, Bill and Mary Thompson. As soon as I went there on that first day they were so good to me. You’d go in and Bill would say: ‘Stephen, toast?’ They had a big range and you’d sit down and they’d just look after you. They were excellent people. When Bill passed away and Mary left Bill’s sister-in-law, who have a farm, became the teahouse. It’s all family and all connected.

"When I went to Culmore first I lit fires, I went and got messages. It was just and still is, a great community.”

Christmas was a particularly special – and busy – time, especially with card deliveries.

"People were so good to me as well. I couldn’t have carried the stuff. All postmen were the same. I delivered to Grant’s Ham Factory and Mr Grant never forgot. It was always four big hams. I’ve been getting hams from there since 1990.

“There were so many Christmas cards to deliver. Now, it’s all parcels and very few letters. The job itself has changed a lot but Royal Mail have always been very, very good to me.”

One other occasion that stands out was the 11plus results, which were all delivered back then via post.

“We would put them all in a separate bundle and deliver them first. You’d see noses pressed up to the glass and hear: ‘There’s Stephen!” The next day you’d have a lot coming out to thank you for coming early.”

"I was doing a collection in Carnhill High School and a group of teachers were standing. I heard one of them say: ‘Do you know who that is? He delivered my 11 plus results and I’ll never forget him’. And If I’m up the town with my family, you’d get so many people stopping and chatting to you.”

Stephen sustained an injury last year and was off work for a while, but decided to work last Christmas as he wanted to join the community and see them all for the festive season.

That connection proved difficult during the Covid 19 pandemic, outlined Stephen and he was glad when his job got back to normal. Not only had he a great connection with the area, but also with his fellow post men and there has always been ‘great camaraderie’.

"I feel so lucky to have had that job, Culmore is just a very special place. People would say to me that it was a long run to be doing, but I’d reply that they didn’t know the people I was meeting.”

He will miss the job, he added, and will miss Culmore, but plans to visit regularly.

Stephen plans to spend his retirement with his adored grandchildren and he and Una, who recently retired from Derry Well Woman, are heading off on holiday soon.

They all had a great time at the appreciation night held in Culmore Community Hub, which was organised by his former Royal Mail colleague Dermot McCauley.

It was a surprise for Stephen, who was over the moon with the honour.

"Culmore is very, very special. I have made lifelong friends and memories.”