A postcard sent from Durban, South Africa in 1957 has finally reached its destination in Dorset after 53 years.
Staff at Monkton Wyld Court education centre, near Bridport, are trying to find out the postcard intended recipient, “J.C. Belsey”.
Since 53 years have past, the addressee may have been a student, teacher or staff member of the then mixed boarding school housing 36 students.
The postcard, which appears to be sent from Belsey’s grandparents, refers to a trip to Durban, saying: “It has rained a bit today but is staying hot even so.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “It is extremely unlikely that this item of mail was in our system at this time. It is difficult to speculate what may have happened, but almost certainly it was put back in a post box very recently, as we regularly check all our sorting offices and machines are cleared.”
It is hoped that some former pupils will be able to shed light on the postcard’s recipient at the boarding school reunion in May 2011.