Card arrives from Africa - after 26 years Nov 3 2005

Sally Williams, Western Mail

TWENTY-SIX years ago a mother sent her daughter a postcard from Gambia -
it has just arrived.

Michael Wilding was taken aback when he found the holiday card from the
African coast in his letterbox, postmarked November 6, 1979. That was the
year Margaret Thatcher came to power, Sony introduced the Walkman and the
Boomtown Rats belted out I Don't Like Mondays.

The card is addressed to Mr Wilding's home, Redcastle in Selattyn near Chirk.

Slightly worse for wear, it shows two children silhouetted on an African
beach, with the caption "Black is beautiful".

Addressed to a Miss N Humphreys, it reads, "Dear Nia and Dylan, mummy and
daddy are having a lovely holiday."

Mr Wilding didn't recognise the names and he struggled to think if he knew
anyone from Africa who could be its author. He quickly worked out that the
puzzling card that had been in postal limboland for more than 25 years and
was intended for the previous householder's young granddaughter, Nia, who
would now be an adult.

At the time the postcard was written, Dylan and Nia were being cared for
in Redcastle, while their parents were abroad, by their grandmother, Vera
Humphreys, who still lives near Oswestry.

Now Mr Wilding hopes to hand-deliver the postcard to Nia.

But exactly why the holiday card, which bears a Gambian stamp and was sent
from the Gambian capital Banjul, took so long to reach its Welsh
destination remained a mystery last night. The unexpected post has
intrigued the Wilding family but its recipient could only guess it had
fallen by the wayside, been rediscovered and finally sent on.

Mr Wilding told the Western Mail, "I don't know where the postcard could
have been for 26 years although some people down the local pub enjoy
taking a guess.

"Maybe it's been somewhere between the Gambia and Selattyn. It could have
been dropped by a camel or just lost in a sorting office somewhere. You
can take your pick.

Daughter Charlie, 20, added, "I was shocked to get a postcard that is
older than me.

"I've only been on holiday once - to Corfu earlier this year - I sent one
postcard and that arrived before we got home."

A Royal Mail spokesman said, "The only postmark on the postcard was from
Gambia so we can't be sure that it ever came through the Royal Mail system
here in the UK. Although this kind of incident does happen from time to
time, it is quite a rare event."

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