We know that the Isle of Man was ahead of the curve in terms of women getting the vote but in other ways we have lagged behind. We still lag behind the UK when it comes to statutory maternity pay and shared parental leave, for example.

And, although there have been a number of women ministers in government we have not yet had a female chief minister.

Sometimes it has seemed that once one brave and capable woman has become ’the first female’ in her particular profession, the pace of progress picks up quite rapidly.

The Isle of Man Law Society was found in 1859 but the first woman advocate, Clare Faulds, was not admitted to the Manx bar till 1973.

Now, women lawyers make up approaching 50% of the profession, and the society’s current president and vice president are both women.

Isle of Man Post Office employed its first female ’postie’ 23 years ago and there are now 29. In all, the Post Office employs 106 women out of a workforce of 350 and its current chairman is also a woman, MHK Julie Edge (pictured inset).

Mrs Edge says her role model when she was starting out, working at the then MEA, was Betty Boothroyd: ’I watched a programme about her and she said: "People thought of me as just a secretary and look where I’m sitting now - Speaker of the House of Commons!"’

Of her own current role Mrs Edge says: ’I was honoured when they asked me because I thought: "You know what, that is such a fantastic opportunity and a diverse business with a challenging role".

’It’s always in the public arena and the spotlight and I think the brand is the best on the island.

’It’s in the community every day, it’s loved by the community, and I thought this is my opportunity to make sure that we have the Post Office that is sustainable for the future. And I’m working with a fantastic team of people with three women on the board.’

Back in the 1990s when the first female postie was appointed, there was a certain amount of grumbling among male colleagues that women would not be up to the job in terms of being able to lift heavy parcels.

’It’s amazing isn’t it, the change since then,’ says Mrs Edge, adding that, in fact the Post Office has since lowered the weight limit that all the posties, male and female, can lift.

Katie Newton started as a postie 17 years ago and she also remembers this attitude from male colleagues at the time: ’You definitely had to prove yourself but then it’s a very physically tough job so I completely understand why there was that.

’But it does seem crackers now.’

Katie started as a student at Christmas time during holidays from university when there were, she recalls, ’just mountains and mountains of mail - Christmas is very different now.

’Then I came back to the island and I worked in finance. I used to watch the posties coming round every day and I used to hate being behind that desk - I used to mark off each 20 minutes.’

Now Katie is out of doors in all weathers and her Garmin tells her that she walks between five and 10 miles a day, six days a week, usually covering rounds in Douglas and Onchan, and delivering between six and 10 bags of mail everyday.

She says: ’I could never be in an office again.’

Although she says that the Post Office offers an excellent maternity package - six months on full pay - Katie acknowledges that having to leave home at 5.20 in the morning isn’t ideal for women with young families:

’I think the hours perhaps don’t suit women. I’ve got a four year old son, William, and it’s not easy leaving early in the morning and it is a physically grim job when the weather’s bad and you’re walking 10 miles with a heavy bag on a day when really you don’t want to walk from the house to the car.’

The upside is that she finishes around 2pm and then she’s free to spend the afternoon with William, although she adds that she is never quite sure if that is ’the best of both worlds or two full time jobs!’.

But she also points out that she doesn’t ever have to take work home with her or worry about it at night ’so it’s kind a stress free job, there’s lots of positives’.

She adds: ’And on a sunny day it’s the best job in the world.’