The postcard arrives at the address 120 years after it was mailed

This submission was literally postponed.

As if the world’s post offices weren’t plagued by enough delays: Employees at a Welsh bank were stunned to receive a postcard 121 years after it was originally sent.

“It came out completely out of the blue,” Henry Darby, marketing and communications officer at Swansea Building Society’s head office in Swansea, where the “spooky” correspondence was delivered, told Wales Online.

The Welshman and his team were said to have been reviewing their mail on August 16 when, all of a sudden, AFTERponyd postcard fell from the pile on the table. The super snail mail was dated August 3, 1903 and bore a stamp emblazoned with King Edward VII – who was the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom at the time.

The front of the postcard featured a cryptic depiction of a deer moving through a winter wonderland with the cryptic inscription “challenge”. It was addressed to a Lydia Davies, who apparently lived there when she had the house instead of the bank.

“The address is correct, we’re still 11 (and 12) Cradock Street, but it’s 121 years later than expected!” exclaimed Darby, who noted that the writing style was “too time consuming”.

Indeed, the salutation of the correspondence reads: “Remember Miss Gilbert + John with love to all from [unreadable].

Meanwhile, on the body it was written: “Dear L. I couldn’t, it was impossible to get a pair of these. I’m so sorry, but I hope you’re enjoying yourself at home. Now I have about 10 shillings in my pocket money not counting the train fare, so I’m good.”

Darby said the vague nature of the correspondence suggests the sender “was talking about something they both know but don’t want to reveal in the postcard.”

While the identity of the sender in question is unclear, a pencil scratched at the top indicates that the postcard was sent to Davies by someone in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire.

The bank has since posted a notice on Facebook asking people in the Swansea community and elsewhere to help “shed light on this mystery”, writing: “Do you know anything about Miss Lydia Davies who lived in Craddock Street in in 1903 (according to the postmark)?”

Why did the postcard undergo such an Odyssey before reaching its intended address?

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said it was likely to have been placed “back in the system” and had not actually been lost in the post for 121 years.

“When an item is in our system, we are obligated to deliver it to the correct address,” they said.

Apparently, in the UK, neither snow nor rain nor a century-long delay can stop the mail.