Alan Cleaver (@thelonningsguy) / X

Alan Cleaver

15.3K posts

Alan Cleaver

@thelonningsguy

UK author of The Postal Paths telling the stories behind Britain's rural postal routes. linktr.ee/postalpaths

Whitehaven, Cumbria

sites.google.com/view/postal-pa…

Joined March 2015

Pinned
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Apr 27, 2024
I tweet about Britain's postal paths (walked by rural postmen and women in the past) and other ancient paths, folklore, and the joy of handwritten letters. Follow me if you're of a like mind. Picture: Scottish postie Silver Beedie on her Highland route.
103K
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Apr 18, 2020
Living next to a pub, I'm used to late-night revellers shouting but what really annoyed me was the chap who would imitate an owl hoot around 2.30am every night. Now pubs are shut I realise the hooting still goes on and it's not a drunk. It is actually an owl 😳
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Jul 23, 2020
Art explained by a four-year-old...
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Jul 5, 2025
A smoot is a hole left in a drystone wall for rabbits or other small animals to get through. I see many on my walks but this one (from Ambleside) has to be the most elaborate. A cathedral among smoots!
326K
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Feb 7, 2025
I spent the evening standing in the freezing cold, in a lay-by near Whitehaven #Cumbria. I doubt I'll ever witness anything more remarkable than a #murmuration. Stunning.
00:00
361K
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Jan 1, 2023
This year, I will be mainly travelling Britain researching Postman's Paths walked by rural postmen and women until the 1970s. Follow me if you love writing letters, postal history and walking!
644K
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Jan 21, 2025
I handwrite letters. I usually illustrate them, and sometimes I doodle on the envelopes. And I sometimes do it when I've taken too much medication 😉
141K
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Jun 3, 2023
My job is walking the paths and lanes walked by rural postmen and women in days gone by, taking a few pics and writing about my day out. God, it's a tough life!
233K
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Jul 7, 2025
Having tweeted about smoots (small gaps left in drystone walls for rabbits), someone asked if gaps were left for larger animals. Not really, but there are tunnels under roads for sheep and cattle. They are known as 'creeps'. I don't know why. You find them marked on maps. 1/2
163K
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Mar 20, 2025
"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." - Charles Dickens
84K
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Jun 15, 2023
This is perhaps the last Postman's Hut surviving in #Wales. Posties rested here to have lunch over a pot-bellied stove. They also carved their intials inside. It's in beautiful Cwmystwyth and villagers are raising £4,700 to restore it. More pics to follow.
150K
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Oct 2, 2025
I am going to take a break from social media for a while. I'll pop back with any important news (or pictures of really cute kittens), but in the meantime, thanks for your continued support and stay well - Alan.
64K
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Apr 23, 2023
The tasteful #Coronation display in one of my local shops. And not in the slightest bit scary 😳
351K
Alan Cleaver
@thelonningsguy
Mar 5, 2021
The government says we can't afford to give nurses a pay increase. If only there was some way we could raise the money needed... #ResignBorisJohnson #nhspayrise