Popular postmaster couple, Sukhdev and Jaswinder Thiarra are retiring from their Bedford Borough Post Office after a 35 years of running Post Offices across Bedfordshire.
The popular couple first ran Houghton Conquest Post Office with Sukhdev’s brother and sister-in-law from 1989 until they took on Wilshamstead Post Office in Bedford Borough in 2001.
While moving to the new branch themselves, other family members continued running the Houghton Conquest branch, which led to the family raising tens of thousands of pounds for palliative and bereavement support charity, Sue Ryder.
The now traditional charity golf day between Wilshamstead and Houghton Conquest has continued to grow and is held each July. This year there were 96 participants and the inter-village challenge raised £10,500.
However, after 23 years at the helm of Wilshamstead Post Office and convenience store, Sukhdev and Jaswinder have decided it’s time to call it a day.
“We have been overwhelmed by the cards, gifts and well wishes from people who are sad that we are retiring, but we will continue to live in the village,” said Sukhdev.
“People are pleased that Wilshamstead Post Office and store will remain open and with an experienced postmaster. We have loved our time at Houghton Conquest and Wilshamstead Post Offices and we raised our three children in Wilstead.
“The best thing about being a postmaster is the people that you serve and the banter. You get to know people well and they know that I’m mad on sport – all sport.
“I used to be a football referee and people know me from that sport and my son used to play cricket. People know that they can come in and have a chat about sport.
“There’s a lot of banter. I grew up in Wolverhampton, so I’m an Aston Villa fan, and of course there’s lots of Luton fans and people who support lots of different clubs.
“There are elderly people in this community who live alone, and they come in to chat to Jaswinder, myself and our staff and they might not have any conversations that day if it wasn’t for us. We like to help people.
“We have been at the heart of this community for 23 years and we like to support community events and clubs.”
Sukhdev and Jaswinder Thiarra plan to have their first holiday together in 35 years, having taken separate holidays in the past so someone was always available to run the business.
Jaswinder says she will now have more time for swimming and fitness classes and Sukhdev will play more golf.
Post Office Area Manager, Keith Mabberley, added, “I want to sincerely thank Sukhdev and Jaswinder for their long and loyal service running Post Offices in Bedfordshire.
“I wish them a very well-earned retirement. The couple are very popular in Wilstead and they really care about their community and they remained fully open during Covid so that people still had access to vital Post Office services and groceries locally.
“Their shop really is at the hub of the village.”
Mr Indran Poopalapillai who runs Iddlesleigh Road and Goldington branches in Bedford will now take over the Wilshamstead Post Office. Existing staff are remaining at the shop at 33 Cotton End Road, Wilshamstead MK45 3BX.
