National Letter Writing Day

September 1st was National Letter Writing Day. It reminded me how much I enjoy writing a letter or postcard by hand. There’s something more personal about sending a letter. It is delivered to someone’s door. This is more personal than an email landing in an ever-crowded inbox! I’ve been using the same Cross pen for over thirty-five years. Every letter or card I write with it becomes a small mark on my own time-line.

Postcards

On Lundy, postcards play a large part in letter writing. Visitors love sending postcards home, carrying stories of puffins, granite cliffs, and island wildlife to friends and family.

On Lundy we have our very own postal service—one of the oldest private posts in the world. It was established in 1929 by island owner Martin Coles Harman after the British Post Office withdrew its services. Lundy stamps remain popular with collectors today. The charge is known as “puffinage” and covers postage to the UK, now in partnership with Royal Mail.

LetterBoxing

Often, visitors leave postcards in the Lundy Letterboxes (geocaches) for other visitors to find. They add their own words. Then, they send them back to the original person. This is a lovely way of connecting people in their common love for Lundy.

This enjoyment of postcards and geocaching inspired an 80 Postcard Project. I collaged 80 Postcards and placed them into Lundy’s geocaches across the island. These were posted to my mainland address. They enjoyed a Journey on the Oldenburg to Exeter Sorting office. Then they returned back to North Devon to be delivered by my mainland postman.

The reverse of the cards were filled with words from visitors. Many of them were people I did not know. They described the senses they experienced when staying on Lundy. It was a reminder of how letter writing connects us in creative ways. You can see all the postcards in my book.

Postcard Workshop with Georgeham School

I also enjoyed the process of creating postcards with a primary school. Many of the children had not experienced writing postcards before. They were all introduced to the Lundy protocol of putting the stamp on the opposite side of the card. Knowing their own address was the challenge. Letter writing is not something they do as they live in a world of digital messaging.

Postcrossing

When I first moved to Lundy, I met a lady in the Tavern who was busily writing postcards. She told me about the Postcrossing International Project, which I quickly signed up for. Now I send and receive postcards from people around the world I’ve never met! They always remark on the Lundy stamps and the beauty of the island shown on the cards. If you’d like to explore further, Postcrossing offers the chance to send postcards anywhere in the world—and receive one back. A handwritten word, traveling across sea and sky, still carries wonder.

I would love to receive a letter or card from you, my address is Lundy Island :)