Dear Rowland,

We came to visit you at Westminster Abbey on the 185th Penny Black Day! It was really special and they let us in for free (because it was a pilgrimage of sorts). I’m sitting here in my little letter writing shed looking at a photograph I framed of you. I wonder how old you are in it. And what are you thinking about while you pose for that photo? It’s such a shame we weren’t alive at the same time, although that rather messes with my mind when I think about it because what era would’ve been best for us both to inhabit? You did an amazing thing inventing the postage stamp. I wonder when the idea came to you. It’s so clever. I don’t know what you’d make of the current management of our beloved Royal Mail. I get the sense you were one of the great philanthropists back then. We need a few more of them these days too.

But really the reason for writing was 1) I would’ve loved the opportunity to actually write to you, and 2) Penny Black Day seemed to really capture people’s imagination and I was truly touched by all the people getting onboard our big idea to encourage the world to send a letter on 6th May to show that handwritten letters still mattered. We couldn’t not come and find you on the day. Eldest agreed to come with me so we managed to book a train from Dorset to London (not that easy anymore) arriving on a chilly but sunny 6th May. I felt like a character from a Thomas Hardy novel heading to the Big Smoke from Dorsetshire, although sadly we weren’t on a steam train and I had to forego the bonnet, I’m afraid! Our plan was to come to Westminster Abbey to find your grave and then head across town to post a bundle of letters in the postbox next to your statue. It felt rather poignant coming to remember a once well-known stranger from long ago.

We’d never been in Westminster Abbey before but have seen it countless times on the television for Royal occasions. Life without television or phones or radio even. What a lot has happened between your life and mine, but incredibly always there as a constant has been the wonderful existence of letter writing and handwritten letters, made possible for everyone because of you. That really did need celebrating. Two days after the 185th anniversary of Penny Black Day was the 80th anniversary of VE Day. I guess there were conflicts around the world during your lifetime, but WWII was something else. We seem to be merrily trotting along to the next one but that’s greed and vanity for you, I guess. But throughout the commemorations and celebrations of VE Day 80 there were so many references to letters that had been sent between loved ones either to and from the front line, or children evacuated to rural places or families trying to stay in touch during the chaos. There was rather a sense of quaint nostalgia about them in the pieces, but you and I and many others know that letters at any stage of our lives, in whatever era, and during all human situations, are still so important. Crikey, the neurosis we’ve given ourselves with the advancements of technology. I once heard we could probably send a rocket to the moon with the technological capabilities of our “smartphones”, although whether that is actually true or not, I’m not sure who to ask. It’s been a slippery slope though, that’s for certain.

But letter writing. I do wonder what you’d make of life in the 21st century. Perhaps you wouldn’t care. Progress and all that? I would love to know your thoughts. You looked very grand up on your plinth in Westminster Abbey. We still weren’t really sure where your grave was but you have a name plate on the floor in one of the little side chapels. We made a big thing about trying to point you out to the hundreds of tourists filing past in a great big conga, but I’m not sure you were mentioned on the audio-guide they all had. I’m now not even sure if it was your coffin or your ashes that were interred. I did read it was your dream to be buried there.

I wish I was clever enough to write a screenplay about your life, and your stamp “Eureka!” moment. I had my “Eureka!” moment about The Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society on a muddy walk across the downs in Swanage. I do love that Queen Victoria and I share the same birthday – it felt serendipitous somehow. You have a lovely cameo in the recent TV series, Victoria, where Prince Albert has your back over Queen Victoria giggling about everyone licking the back of her head. So rest assured, your memory and achievements do live on. For now. Thank you so much for creating something so revolutionary. I wonder if you realised the impact your invention would have on the course of people’s lives, in the smallest to the most monumental ways. I like to think you did.

Anyway, like I said, our trip to come and visit you in London was very special, made more so by all the lovely supporters of THLAS sending letters and sharing photos on the day. I really was bowled over by all the participation and by so many unexpected letters arriving at THLAS HQ in the following days – including a generous donation of a genuine Penny Red stamp! Simply amazing! And I think we’re going to do it all over again next year. I’m thinking maybe a trip to see where you were born next time. Perhaps some of your descendants might like to join us…

In the meantime, sending very best wishes, and long live letters and of course postage stamps!

Dinah