From Meg to Nanny: How York is keeping letter writing and pen pal connections alive

Despite living in a digital world, there is a growing culture of people determined to protect the art in a time of “instant” and “rushed” communication.

York’s Meg Wellington-Barratt has reignited her family’s letter writing habit after spending more than two decades sending and receiving correspondence from her late Nanny in Scarborough. Meg's daughter, aged four, is a pen pal to her seven year old cousin.

From tea party invitations as a little girl to letters about everyday life, Meg will always have a connection to her Nanny through the written word.

One of Meg's early letters to Nanny, pictured.

“We never thought to do anything else,” she said.

“When I went to university she’d send me cuttings out of the local paper and I would tell her what I was doing and she would send me photographs. She was quite a character.

“We just had this bond out of letter writing and it was just a real joy.

“Letters and thank you notes are memorable.

“I’ve got them in a Yorkshire Tea tin. That’s where she kept them. I’ll keep them forever.

“I now have both sides of it.”

And Meg is not alone. Nelli Mooney - a non-binary artist and creator of York’s first LGBT+ cafe, Lunar Cafe - uses anything from a personalised wax seal, fountain pen and typewriter for thank you notes and letters to their 90-year-old grandparents in Finland.

Nelli said: "I am a creative writer but I struggle writing with a laptop so my partner Joe has bought me a typewriter and fountain pen - from the pen shop on Fossgate - to encourage creativity. He also got me the wax seals because he knows how obsessed I am with old fashioned stuff!"

Read similar stories: How TV show 'Afterlife' inspired huge letter writing project in York

York resident and former journalist Julian Pickles still writes to his loved ones and, though he turns to social media more now, nothing beats an opportunity to celebrate the English language.

“I've always kept it up throughout my life," he said.

"I had pen pals from when I was very young internationally.

"I still write letters, I still write cards especially when I'm away abroad and for my daughter."

Explaining his love of language, he said: "There's the different connotations, subtle nuances and meanings and derivation. My father used to have an etymological dictionary and that sparked my interest as well.

"There's so much to do in language that makes it rich and interesting to explore."

Meanwhile Indee Watson, a creative writing masters student at York St John University, said letter writing is a “gift”. She told The Press: “In an age where everything is so digital, letter writing allows us to stay in touch with the past, giving a nod to the forms of communication that were once the only way to communicate.

York St John student Indee Watson, pictured left, and her writing supplies.

"I love the moment I seal a letter and send it off, knowing it’ll fall through the letterbox of a dear friend, unknown words packaged in a wax sealed envelope just waiting to be read. And I love the moment I get to read those words myself, excitement and personality shining through hand-written notes and sketches.

"Texts, phone calls, emails are all so instant, so rushed. Writing a letter gives you time to think, to consider the most important things you want to say, the gratitude you want to give, the events you want to share, rather than rushing a text response in 3 seconds and not really meaning it.

"You can think it over properly and read over their words knowing you’re given the gift to sit down and really consider the important things. You take your time, you write with love, and you mean every word you write."