ONE of North Yorkshire's longest serving post mistresses is retiring after 35 years.

Nora Dobson runs Low Mill post office in Farndale, in the North York Moors National Park, from her 18th Century cottage.

She recalls how the mail for Farndale used to arrive at the home - once a hive of activity as a local mill for grain harvested in the dale -and was sorted on the kitchen table before it was delivered to the remote farmhouses.

The tiny post office was also a tourist information point for Farndale's many visitors.

"I have many happy memories of the people I have served in the dale and the tourists," said Mrs Dobson who is a member of the Low Mills Band Room - the local community hall - and the Country Women's Association.

She recalls how the tiny community once had its own school, chapel, joiner, cobbler and village shop, but the closure of her post office could be the last business unless someone steps forward to take over the role.

Mrs Dobson, who worked full-time until two years ago, said that despite the remoteness of the dale, very rarely was the mail prevented from reaching Farndale because of the wintry conditions.

She is looking forward to retirement and spending more time involved in village activities and with her husband, Harold, a well-known Methodist preacher.