As much as I intensely dislike (my grannie always told me to never say hate) going to pick up a…read moreparcel because I was out, these guys are usually pretty nice and sort me out quickly. I've been a fair few times, the latest being this morning, when I went to fetch my graduation photos. My two pet intense dislikes (not hates, of course) of the Royal Mail Delivery Office are: a) The fact that it is so blinkin' difficult to find. I once ended up in the actual sorting office, when some employee saw me looking exceedingly lost and pointed me in the right direction. The next time I went, I still couldn't find the office first time round. For those of you who will undoubtedly suffer the same fate, when you come to the metal gate, turn right down the path. Don't go through those gates, whatever you do! b) There is nowhere to park, except a miserable couple of spaces just outside those darned gates. Both sides of Prince Regent Road are double yellows, so you have to go with someone and they then have to wait on you. Very frustrating. When you have parked the car and found your way in, it's all pretty straightforward. One of the guys this afternoon was in great form, telling me he'd checked out my photos, and they were awful, and haha, he was only joking. Amusing to say the least. Oh, and even though it may say to bring I.D. with you, I've never been checked. Just a wee hint. If you're (un)lucky enough to have to pop over to the Belfast East Delivery Office (why the heck didn't they keep it on the Albertbridge Road), at least you'll be well prepared. You are most welcome.

I am one of those east Belfast people who queue up regularly at the Prince Regent Road collection…read morecentre on cold Saturday mornings - so consider this. Since more and more of us buy on-line for bigger stuff that we used to carry home on the bus. So now, post men drive round to our doors when we aren't there, because we work at the same time that they work - the house is empty! So can we resolve this silly practise? - An idea. Someone design a 'big red box', securely fitted to your wall 'round the back' or something. If you are expecting a delivery then leave the box open before you go to work. I nice friendly notice on your front door can direct the nice delivery man to this 'big red box'. All he has to do is to place the parcel in the box and close the SELF-LOCKING' lid. So if the lid is closed when you come home you have mail! - or the neighbour's cat. Of course, two deliveries in one day qualifies you for a trip to Prince Regent on the next Saturday - space out your purchases a bit. A similar problem for terraced houses and apartments could be addressed by a sort of 'big red cat flap' in the door. So if the cat flap is swinging when you come home, then you've got mail - or the neighbour's cat again. If we don't do something, we will be queued out to the Castlereagh Road soon. PS: The guys who work in the office are second to none - but worked off their feet. Happy Christmas to all in the queue.

No prizes for guessing where The Corner is situated, although I will tell you it's not in the…read moremiddle of the street... I remember when this newsagents opened, and it must be in and around ten years ago. Interestingly, I had never paid The Corner a visit until the other day (having harboured a desire to visit it for a long time, naturally) when I needed the final edition of the Belfast Telegraph for my dad. Had I been in Belfast, this wouldn't have been a problem - you can get the final edition at lunchtime there. However, the further away from the Belfast you are, the more unlikely you are to finding it, as I discovered. Not one of the four newsagents / corner shops in Millisle had any sign of even receiving the final edition of the Telegraph, and I was pretty sure the same was going to be said for Donaghadee. However, always an optimist, I told my dad I'd find him one no problem. 2pm on a Monday? Ha, no sweat. Some may call me jammy (and granted, it was more onto 2:30pm at this stage), but when I nipped into The Corner, they had just received bundles of the Telegraph...final edition. I think that made my afternoon. 65p later and I was able to assure my dad that not only was I the world's most fabulous daughter for finding the seemingly unfindable, but that I hadn't really even tried. Pure skill and ability, or the huge reliability factor of The Corner? I'll let you decide...

Large post office offering a full range of services including parcelforce express, passport check &…read moresend, vehicle tax, foreign currency, travel insurance and current & savings accounts. Whilst often extremely busy the staff are quick and courteous so I never find I have to queue for long.

Bedford Street Post Office sells all the equipment you need for sending letters and posting parcels…read more- envelopes - brown white and varying sizes - bubble wrap, sellotape, brown papers etc. Many a time I have perched a parcel on the narrow counter to wrap it up and post on the hoof in here. It provides the usual Post Office service but being small is best avoided at lunch time when the queue builds up. The shop part has the usual newagents supplies of papers, drinks, sweets, sandwiches and some funny little knick knack gifts like name pens, mugs and fridge magnets for occasions that demand a token gift.

Post offices although controlled by a set of rules and structure from up high really do come in…read morevarying forms and degrees of proficiency. Bedford Street is a fair example of a post office doing the right thing in some regards which needs a little help in others. I called in here last week to buy some packing material to post a guitar to a guy in Scotland (having sold it for less than I would have liked to) I ended up picking up some bubble wrap, packing roll and brown tape, all of which came to about £4, which is reasonable. They also stock a range of Yankee candles bizarrely along with typical newsagent items, as well as some touristy things. The main problem with this branch is it's small, and generally has only one or two staff on the post office side of things but, the queues are ridiculous....to the point where there's almost no floor space for other people to browse. Not the best but certainly not the worst way to get your postal needs sorted in the city centre.