After 40 years of working nights. Britain’s longest-serving Royal Mail postman has recalled hand-delivering turkeys, kippers and last-minute gifts for Christmas as his record 60 years comes to an end this festive season. Robert Hudson, 76, known as Rocky, from Leyton, east London, started his Royal Mail career in December 1964 when he was 16 – beginning as a messenger in the Whitechapel Delivery Office distributing telegrams on a motorcycle come rain or shine.
![[Rocky said he ‘loved every minute’ of his career with Royal Mail (Royal Mail/PA Real Life)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/24/06/23170822-8213f640-ccec-45ed-81f6-d1a167ee7f8b.jpg)
When he was 18, the grandfather-of-nine moved to an outdoor role as a postman where he would carry his parcels in a sack on his back through the streets of Poplar, a job which he “loved every minute”. Christmas parcels back in the 60s were also a strange affair as Rocky recalls hand-delivering perishable festive goods through the post, such as turkeys “wrapped up in brown paper or a cloth with a leg sticking out”, salmon, kippers and cream – and he remembers seeing the joy on someone’s face as he handed them a last-minute gift from a loved one.
![[The first thing Rocky will do in retirement is turn off all his alarms (Royal Mail/PA Real Life)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/24/06/23170941-d4b463e3-c927-4eb9-91a2-e8d58fac8f98.jpg)
This year, Rocky will be carrying out his last shift on December 28 at the London Docklands Delivery Office where he has spent the last 40 years working nights – which made it easier for him at the time to care for his three young children following the sudden death of his wife, Sheila, at age 26, in 1980.
![[Rocky started his Royal Mail career in December 1964 (Postal Museum/PA Real Life)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/24/06/23164107-33bb4916-d724-4b87-8141-59923abb6444.jpg)
Looking ahead to retirement, Rocky said it will be strange but he is ready to “relax”, spend time gardening and seeing his family, including his granddaughter – British Paralympic archer Jessica Stretton – but the very first item on the agenda is turning off all his alarms.
![[Rocky will complete his last shift on December 28 (Collect/PA Real Life)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/24/06/23164803-e4d90bc1-4aee-4ba3-9e11-9437a1e1219a.jpeg)
