Our future is looking bleak
JOHN and Christine Bowman cite the love of their customers as one of the key factors keeping their post office going.
But Mr Bowman said his income has declined over the past decade despite serving as a vital hub for his Somerset village. ‘Our future is very bleak,’ said the 70-year-old, who took over the business in 1983 as a ‘lifestyle change’.
The branch lies in Charlton Adam, part of a series of villages dating back to the Domesday Book. He said: ‘If you talk to any postmaster they will say it is the customers that they really enjoy.
‘But you have to think of yourself and your wellbeing. We will keep bumbling but if we want to sell, it will not sell as a shop. The income is not there.’
He said the Post Office’s handling of contracts for local branches was a ‘farce’.