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Britain’s Oldest Papergirl Circles Southampton Aged 82

By Tereza Antonova

When you’ve found your calling, you don’t quit before you absolutely must. Meet Pauline Bridge. Six days a week, she gets up at 5 AM to do her delivery round and spread the news with her neighbours.

Pauline started her career about ten years ago and plans to carry on until 90. Apparently, the delivery gene runs in the family: her husband is in the same profession. One tiny difference, though – Mr Bridge completes his rounds walking.

Regardless of the weather, Pauline jumps on her 40-year-old bike and leaves the house at 5:30 in the morning. Over the years, Mrs Bridge made about 50,000 deliveries and cycled roughly 5,000 miles. Such a workload takes a toll on the bike. Safe to say, the bike is taken care of by Pauline’s support team. All the punctures, flats, and other defects are fixed by Mrs Bridge’s son-in-law.

Pauline Bridge
“I deliver to 32 houses but they don’t all get the paper on the same day. Some just get it three days a week.” © Profimedia

According to Pauline’s words, people expect their newspaper in the morning.

“The customers send me Christmas cards at the end of the year and they say ‘you’re the best news deliverer because you always deliver it early in the morning’,” Pauline explains.

If this isn’t solid proof that cycling is good at any age, we don’t know what is.