Postcard delivered from Somerset to Cornwall 21 years on
- Published
Tracy Elliot said she "suddenly realised" it was not a normal postcard
A family has received a postcard sent from about 100 miles away - 21 years after it was written.
Tracy Elliot said her father John, who lives in Bugle, Cornwall, had only recently received the card, which said it was written in Taunton, Somerset.
She said a bit of detective work had led her to believe that it had been written in May 1997.
Royal Mail said it believed it was "likely" the card had only recently gone into the postal system.
Ms Elliot, from Bugle, said the family thought the card was sent by a friend of her father, Alison, who he knew from walks with the Ramblers' Association.
"I thought it was just a normal postcard until I started reading it and suddenly realised what it was," she added.
Royal Mail said it thought the card only recently went into the postal system
The postcard features a picture of two horses on Porlock Hill, with the sea in the background.
Ms Elliot said she had managed to guess it was from 1997 because of the green 20p stamp on it, which were issued at that time, and the card's sender referring to her sister being pregnant.
She added that she had shown the card to her parents, who were "all excited about it" and they were hoping to trace its sender.
Ms Elliot said she thought delivery might have been delayed because the card may have been "down the back of a filing cabinet" in a Royal Mail building.
Royal Mail said it was "difficult to speculate" on what had happened, but added that believed it was "more likely" that the card had only recently been put into the postal system because it regularly checked its buildings and machinery.
