Alex B Cann column - the lost art of letter writing 20/02/26

When was the last time you picked up a pen and wrote a letter to a friend? It feels like something from a bygone era, but the simple act of sending something nice in the post can really lift someone's day. It certainly takes a lot more time and effort than typing out a text, whizzing someone a WhatsApp, or adding to their burgeoning pile of unread emails.

Last year, the Danish postal service PostNord delivered its last letter on 30th December, bringing to an end a 400-year-old tradition. They removed 1,500 red postboxes, and shed a similar number of jobs. Whilst Danes will still be able to post letters via delivery company Dao, the state service will no longer be responsible for providing a universal postal service. Danish law says that the option to send a letter must continue to exist, but it feels like the end of a chapter.

It comes as Royal Mail faces allegations reported by the BBC that parcel deliveries are being prioritised over letters, leading to delays across the postal network. For their part, Royal Mail state they are working to resolve some short-term disruption, but they have already been hit with fines totalling £37 million in recent years for poor performance delivering letters.

Storms and high rates of staff illness have been cited as possible causes of delays in up to 100 postcode areas, but Czech-owned Royal Mail has been given until 2nd March to provide commitments and address the "chaos" in the postal system. The law states letters must be delivered every day in most areas, but lots report this is not happening.

Whilst the NHS app is a great way for most patients to find out about forthcoming appointments, patients who are less digitally savvy still rely on the information arriving punctually by post. Last week, I wrote about the spending power we all have in supporting great local businesses, and I guess the mountain of parcels Royal Mail has to deliver reflects the popularity of online shopping, and the convenience it provides.

There is a glimmer of hope, as Danish firm Dao has found in new research that after a 90% decliine in letter-writing in the country in the last 25 years, young people aged 18 to 34 may be rediscovered the delights of putting pen to paper. This age group is apparently two to three times more likely to send letters than older demographics, and trend researcher Mads Arlien-Sbørg says young people are "looking for a counterbalance to digital oversaturation". Letter-writing, he said, has become a "conscious choice", reported The Guardian at the end of 2025, and goes on to observe: "People know if you write a physical letter and write by hand you have spent time and also spent money".

Until quite recently, I still subscribed to Cinema Paradiso, which is a DVD by post service along the lines of how Netflix started out. I do miss the simple delight of receiving an item in the post you actually wanted, but sadly my subcription didn't make a cull of unneccessary expenses I did last year. We could all do with regularly checking up on payments leaving our account, as I bet most reading this will have at least or two they've forgotten about.

As for saving the letter, we could all do our bit by writing to a friend this week. I could even be a postcard. It doesn't have to be elaborate, but the universal postal service, where it costs the same to send a letter to the next street as it does to the other side of the UK, is something worth keeping, I'd say. While we're at it, I rather miss the days of being able to send a text message from a phone box, calling up dial-a-disc to hear one of the lastest hits, and for that matter, I quite miss having a pager. While we're on a nostalgia trip, the speaking clock used to be ace as well. Generation Z types probably haven't even heard of it. I assumed it was still sponsored by Accurist, but having researched it, apparently this ended in 2008. It's also no longer free, so don't call the number to check it's still there. It is, but will cost you more than the price of a Freddo.

Amid all of this nostalgia, I'm definitely resolving to write a couple of letters before I write next week's column. Now, where on earth did I put my address book?