A little bit of Kent in Oldham in the October of 1911

Now I know there is a story here but it has yet to reveal itself.

The caption on the postcard just says In a Kentish Lane and given that it is part of the collection of material I am looking at from the Great War I assumed it would have been sent from Kent.

I doubt I will ever know where in Kent the picture was and as I read the address and the message on the back it became apparent that Kent had nothing to do with the story that was beginning to unfold.

The card was was sent to Mrs S H Wood by her mother and Mrs Wood was in the Strinesdale Sanatorium at Moorside in Oldham.

Her mother was unable “to visit tomorrow” as Nellie was ill but planned to come next Saturday.

It was sent on a Tuesday afternoon and before 4pm and with the more frequent delivery service I suspect Mrs Wood had the card that evening or very certainly the next morning.

That should be about it.

I went looking for Mrs Wood in the Oldham area for 1911 but came up almost nothing.

All I do know is that the Strinesdale Sanatorium was for people with TB which in the age before antibiotics
was still a very dangerous disease and one in which recovery to full health could take a long time and essentially involved bed rest.

Strinesdale opened in 1895 and closed in 1960.

I guess the records have long since been destroyed  but given that some for Manchester Hospitals have survived I think it may be worth trying to find them.

All of which just leaves why her mother chose a picture of Kent and that I guess we will never know.

Picture; from the collection of David Harrop