Dorset villagers feel 'isolated' after losing only postbox

Bradford Abbas is about three miles from both Sherborne and Yeovil

When a rural village lost its only postbox it "crystallised people's concerns about remoteness", a local councillor has said.

Home to 975 people, Bradford Abbas, in Dorset, had already lost its bus service, local shop and library.

While just three miles from Sherborne and Yeovil, residents said it can feel isolated for people who do not drive.

"Lots of beautiful things and buildings to look at but not much else really," said Robin Legg, who grew up there.

Mr Legg, a Liberal Democrat Dorset councillor, grew up in the village, attending its only school St Mary's Primary in 1960.

He told the BBC: "It's still got a pub, school and church but that's about it. Lots of the services that supported the community years ago have disappeared."

The bus service was stopped in 2017 and the last of the village's three shops closed about three years ago, he said.

The Rose and Crown pub is the last remaining business in the village, say residents

"One of the things that has really crystallised people's concerns about the remoteness of a village like this is the loss of a postbox," he said.

"We haven't even got a place where you can post a letter anymore."

Mr Legg said there was a "strange remoteness" in Bradford Abbas "which lots of communities in rural Dorset and around the country feel now".

"We've lost so many services that really it's a challenge to live in a community like this," he added.

Ms Coffin said people in the village had no idea the postbox would be taken out of action

Diane Coffin said residents were given no notice before the postbox was taken out of commission in November.

"We had no notification. Two guys turned up here and they just sealed it up and painted it black," she said.

"There's an awful lot of people that don't drive any more, elderly people, but they still like to walk down and post their letters. It was the only one [postbox] within three miles."

The only remaining postbox has been sealed up and painted black

Another resident, Jenny Thomas, said it was "quite difficult" to live in the village and that locals had even turned an old public telephone box into a library to create a community space.

She said: "The church organises various things and we have the village hall and the pub - we also have the telephone box in the centre of the village.

"We've made that into a library and put benches and flower planters outside and people come down and congregate there and talk to one another.

"Otherwise, we have no centre in the village and that's quite sad for the community."

Ms Thomas says it can be challenging to live in Bradford Abbas for people who don't drive

Ms Thomas said she did not feel remote living in Bradford Abbas because she drives but added: "If you can't drive then it's very difficult and there are a lot of people here that do feel isolated because they can't drive and there is no way of getting out of the village."

Locals told the BBC the Rose and Crown pub was the last remaining business in the village.

Lee and Hannah Steele bought it in November 2022 and said the lack of other amenities meant it was "literally the hub of the village".

"There's nothing here, at all," said Mr Steele. "I think because of that, everything does revolve around the pub at the moment."

Pub owners Lee and Hannah Steele say they are trying to cater to everyone's needs

Mrs Steele added: "It's hard because you've got to appeal to the older generation and also the younger generation.

"You've got the school in the village, our children go to the school, so recently we've had a new big play park put in the garden that will get used this summer."

But Mr Legg said he thinks the residents "feel like a forgotten community, as if nobody cares that they don't have access to the services they once enjoyed, and it's a tragedy really, it's common across a large swathe of rural England".

However, Chris Loder, the Conservative MP for West Dorset, said that "following my intervention" a replacement postbox is to be installed "as close to the war memorial as possible" within the next 12 to 16 weeks.

Royal Mail said it had received notification that the proposed location for a new postbox had received local authority consent.

The village's old public telephone box, seen here decorated for the coronation of King Charles III, serves as a focal point for the community