Mr Frederick Inns, great grandfather to Fred Inns who still lives in the Gower, was the first Post Master in the Gower when the post office opened in 1884. He lived on Main Street with his wife and they had nine children although not all survived. He sported a very long white I beard having declared that he would never shave. One day, doing a spot of plumbing work, he accidentally set fire to his beard. He managed to put out the fire but his famously long white beard was temporarily reduced! Fred remembers that his great grandfather always said he could tell the state of villager’s homes by how well they wrapped their parcels!

His three unmarried children, Annie, Winifred and Ewart lived in the Old Post Office after his death. The eldest, Annie, was a teacher who walked to Epwell every day to teach in the school there, while Miss Kyte, who lived in Epwell, walked to Sibford to teach in the village school. They must have often passed each other on a dark winter’s morning! Winifred ran the Post Office while Ewart was a plumber. The sisters continued to run the post office after Annie’s retirement from teaching until Winifred died. Annie eventually moved down to Barley Close House for a short while before she died surrounded by her family. The Inns family had been providing the post office services to the village for some 75 years. John and Mollie Mulley eventually bought the Old Post Office from the Inns family in 1972.

Maureen Hicks