Postcard sent from Durban to Dorset takes 53 years
A postcard sent from South Africa in 1957 has finally reached its destination in Dorset.
Staff at Monkton Wyld Court education centre, near Bridport, are now trying to trace its intended recipient.
The addressee, "J.C. Belsey", may have been a student, teacher or staff member when the building housed a boarding school.
The card recounts a trip to Durban, saying: "It has rained a bit today but is staying hot even so."
Now a sustainable living education centre, Monkton Wyld Court was a mixed boarding school housing about 36 students at the time the postcard was sent.
Staff at the centre are now trying to contact former teachers and pupils to find out any information about "J.C. Belsey".
The card, which appears to be sent from grandparents, refers to a bus tour and waiting in a hotel for dinner.
Mark Fell, an administrator at the centre, said: "Everyone was quite excited to get something that late."
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "It is extremely unlikely that this item of mail was in our system all this time.
"It is difficult to speculate what may have happened, but almost certainly it was put back in a post box very recently, as we regularly check all our sorting offices and machines are cleared."
It is hoped that some former pupils may be able to shed light on the card's origin at a reunion being held at Monkton Wyld Court in May 2011.