Cotham Hill Post Office

If this shop weren’t so large I would have to describe it as quaint. Dual purpose, this services the local community’s stamp licking and prescription filling needs as a pharmacy-​cum-​post office.
As with all local pharmacies there is always that slightly peculiar smell and at least one shelf full of lavender or sage, with a packaging as out of date as the expiry date. As well as items your Nan would be proud of you can also get all the usual bathroom suspects, though they are a tad more expensive than the supermarket across the road.
As post office are on the decline anyway this one is always busy and is good for everything from parcel string to padded envelopes and is certainly loved by those that live in this area.

Save our Post Offices! This is a very handy Post Office for everyone in the top half of the city. It’s pretty much the only one around, so obviously gets pretty busy.
They used to have a brilliant cartoon poster on the wall of a long queue of people that said something like: ‘start looking annoyed here’ then a little further along it said, ‘start tutting loudly here’ and things like that. That kind of tells you just how busy they get; they’ve had to resort to making jokes about it to stop people getting mad. That posters gone now, obviously because of some jobsworth manager thinking it ruined the ‘image’ of the Post Office, but it’s not like those twenty people stuck behind one old lady arguing about the price of stamps didn’t realise they had been in a queue for 30 mins. Rant over.
You queue past all the envelopes, so you don’t need one of those before you arrive. It’s also a pharmacy, so you can pick up a new tooth brush. Handy.
But go on send your Gran a card today, you know it would mean a lot, and they never really got the hang of this email lark.

The post office is one of the dying breed of local services that a community is still dependent upon. Back in the day when meat was bought from the butcher and bread purchased from the baker one would build up personal relationships with these local tradesmen. In a similar vein, the incredibly friendly, warm and chatty staff make the often exceptionally long queues somewhat more bearable. I hope they are here to stay. If service was this good everywhere you went I don’t think there would be war! The post office has merged with the pharmacy under one roof, perhaps a sign of the times, but the decent range of toiletries and the like do not impede on the functioning of the post office. They even have perfumes and aftershaves at sub high-​street prices to check out while you wait patiently in line.

At the base of Cotham Hill is this wonderful uniting of two much needed services, the Post Office meets Pharmacy.
Although under the same roof these are two separate businesses doing separate things. The queue (both types of businesses yielding big queues) tends to start sort of centrally before fanning out to its prospective sides. The Post Office does the job as well as you’d expect with a few things dotted about for sale like envelopes and pens. The pharmacy follows suit with a really good range of toiletries and ointments.
Both businesses do exactly as they say on their shared tin.

It is Post Offices like this that are the hub of community life. Thankfully this one is always full, so with any luck it wont be shut down. I often turn up at lunch time only to get put off by the enormous queues, which is my fault not theirs. I will come back a few hours later to find that there is still a queue, and to my surprise it actually put a smile on my face. it is busy and thats the way it should be.
The staff work fast and efficiently to get you to the front fast and once you reach the front you usually get a smile!

This post office always seems busy when I come in. There’s only a couple of counters but the staff manage to work amazingly fast and efficiently so I always get served fairly quickly even if there seems to be a big queue. The nice thing about the shop, though, is that it doubles up as a pharmacy — to the right side of the premises is the post office, and to the left is a pharmacy. They stock a number of relevant items, like plasters, shampoos, sun creams etc., but don’t expect to find any main brands, they’re all alternative to the mainstream versions you’d find in boots. The pharmacy service itself is a quick and friendly service — I had to wait less than 5 minutes to get the medicine back at what seemed to be a busy time of day. With a very local feel and strong community atmosphere, the Cotham Hill post office is an excellent establishment.