Noel Thomas is a Welsh sub-postmaster who was wrongly imprisoned having been falsely accused of stealing money. After 20 years, he and a group of fellow campaigners won a legal battle, after they proved that the computer system, Horizon, installed by the Post Office, was at fault.
'Noel Post' is how he's known on Ynys Môn, and that is because this quiet and kind man has given a lifetime of service - and many months of his freedom - to the Post Office.
Noel Thomas, 75, begins his story in 1965 at the age of 17.
"I started as a postman in a small place called Bodorgan - I was born and raised in Malltraeth. I got up at 4 o'clock in the morning and waited for the mail at Bodorgan station,” said Noel.
His first postal round was a 17 mile cycle ride around the Ynys Môn countryside. The journey included a small village called Paradwys (in English – ‘paradise’). In one of his interviews with the Mirror newspaper, Noel Thomas says he started his career in paradise and ended up in hell.
"Mam kept a shop in Malltraeth and then I helped Mam in the shop every afternoon. I met my wife, Eira, the same week I started with the Post. We got married in 1969 and had three children.”
In 1973, Noel and Eira took over the shop from his mother in Malltraeth. In 1974, the Malltraeth postmaster approached Noel to say that he wanted to retire, and he offered the business to Noel and his wife.
They both ran the Post happily until 1980 when Noel's mother decided to sell the shop. Noel then went to work at Llangefni Post Office, and after a while the postmaster asked him if he would like to run the Post Office in Gaerwen.
"And then my wife and I came to Gaerwen in 1981 and bought the old Post Office. It was my wife who ran it until 1992 and then I took it over when she became unwell, and I ran it until 2005. "
The Post Office in Gaerwen was at the heart of the community, Noel told our sister title, Corgi Cymru.
"You were the News of the World, if you like - you had to listen to people's problems. People were old-fashioned and, of course, the times have changed by now - there was no computers or mobile phones or anything like that back in those days. You were the one sharing stories, or listening to them.”
In 1986, the county councillor, Mrs Jones the Chemist, died and Noel was persuaded to run for the county council and ended up winning the seat.
Within a year, another election was held and his constituents remained loyal to Noel.
Councillor Noel Thomas was an independent member of Ynys Môn Council until he was persuaded to join the Plaid Cymru group. He was also a member of the parish council and that was "an education", he said.
"We were interlopers even though we were Welsh... when we came to Gaerwen, this was a very small industrial estate. But of course, it grew and the business came and came. The Post was busy - almost the busiest on Ynys Môn.”
In 1990, the builders’ merchant Huws Gray opened its first branch of more than a hundred in Gaerwen. Huws Gray was founded by John Llewelyn Jones and Terry Owen, and Councillor Noel Thomas was central to that process.
"John Llew from Pwllheli and Terry knocked at the back door one day and asked me if I would come with them to look for land on the Gaerwen industrial estate, and so off I went. We found a spot, and I knew who owned it, so I went with the two of them to see that person and it got bought.”
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Following the establishment of Huws Gray in Gaerwen, several other businesses set up shop, including a slaughterhouse and a halal meat processing company.
"The place grew - first killing lambs, then cattle - there were about 400 working there at one point. Everyone had a piece of the cake, if you like.”
Noel Thomas's employer, the Post Office, operated a points system which meant you could earn more money on top of your basic salary.
“We started here in Gaerwen on £3500 a year,” Noel explained.
“And then whatever came over the counter - stamps, pensions and so forth, meant you got the points and your pay improved.
“When we were forced to close in 2005, we were earning around £30,000 a year. We had worked really hard.”
Part 2 from our series with Noel Thomas will be appearing in the coming days.
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