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Un bureau de poste sous les projecteursPost office in the spotlightLe plus ancien bureau de posteau mondeThe oldest post office in theworldBy Iain LundyLa petite ville de Sanquhar, dans le Dumfriesshire,a ceci en commun avec nombre d’autres petitesvilles d’Ecosse: ses origines sont lointaines – ellesremontent au VIII e siècle – et elle a depuis longtempspassé son heure de gloire. De ce riche passé, la ville,située dans un décor exquis, conserve les ruines d’unremarquable château. Hormis cela, Sanquhar n’estplus aujourd’hui qu’une petite bourgade tranquille etanodine.Enfin, anodine seulement si vous ne prenez pas letemps d’explorer. Glissant sur l’aspect propret ducentre-ville, avec ses boutiques, son salon de thé et sesdistributeurs de billets, le regard s’arrête sur un bâtimentde la grand-rue. Ce bâtiment peut cependants’enorgueillir de quelque chose d’unique, car si vousenvoyez une carte postale de Sanquhar, vous le ferezdepuis le plus vieux bureau de poste du monde.C’est là un de ces petits faits peu connus qui vousarrêtent et vous interpellent: pourquoi ici? Des centainesde milliers de bureaux de poste que l’on trouvedans les villes et villages du monde entier, pourquoi leplus vieux se trouverait-il dans une petite ville pittoresquenichée au creux de la vallée de la Nith, en Ecosse?The town of Sanquhar in Dumfriesshire is likemany small towns dotted around Scotland. It isold – in this case dating back to the 8th century– and is long past its heyday. It has a wealth of history,including a striking castle ruin, and lies amid exquisitescenery. A quiet and unremarkable little place nowadays,its glory lies in the past.Unremarkable, that is, unless you take the time toexplore. Try looking beyond Sanquhar’s pretty towncentre with its shops, tearoom and cash machines to abuilding on the town’s High Street. It can boast somethingtruly remarkable. For if you send a postcard fromSanquhar Post Office you will have sent it from theoldest post office in the world.It is one of those little-known facts that makesyou stop and wonder – why here? Of all the hundredsof thousands of post offices in towns and villagesthroughout the world, why is the oldest in a quietpicturesque town nestling in Scotland’s Nith Valley?There is no true answer, it wasn’t planned and like somany odd facts and figures, just happened that way. Itdoes, however, owe its existence to a long-gone society,in which the local aristocracy held enormous influenceand the strategic location of towns like Sanquhar (pronouncedSANK-er) was a matter of great importance.Sanquhar people are proud of their town’s history.The post office has been operating continuously since1712, eight years longer than its closest rival, inthe Swedish capital Stockholm. The third oldest, inSantiago, Chile, opened a full 60 years after the officein Sanquhar.The Sanquhar post office had long been accepted asthe oldest in Britain and was thought to date from1763, but research carried out around 15 years ago bypostal historian James Mackay revealed it has been operatingsince 1712 – making it the oldest in the world.Ken Thompson, who has owned and operated thepost office for the last 17 years, says: “We are looking ata different history, a different perspective on life, onethat does not exist today.”At the time the post office started, the Crowns ofEngland and Scotland had not long been united. Therewas considerable activity in the border areas of bothlands and one of the most important and influentialfamilies of the day was the Crichton family, who ownedSanquhar Castle.In 1712 a service known as the Nithsdale cross-postwas established with mail-runners on horseback deliv-40UNION POSTALE