The woman in a shawl at the foot of Oliver Cromwell in the summer of 1914

It’s the last of my Judge postcards. 

Like the others in the series which Fred Judge took in the summer of 1914 it has much going for it not least because it isn’t the standard view.

Instead we have the statue of Oliver Cromwell matched by the Cathedral behind and balanced by the building to our extreme right.

But for me it is also the figures he has captured sitting on the steps.

There is the mixed group of boys including one in school uniform and beside him what might be a paper seller and the others, two of whom are engaged in a game.

And there is the woman in the shawl not at all interested in the camera deep in thought or perhaps listening to the chap next to her.

She is interesting because you rarely see women in shawls in post cards of the period.

They were there in the city and were often the subject of pictures taken on the poorer streets.

She makes a fitting contrast to the more elegant woman with their fine hats and expensive looking clothes off in the distance.

I wish I knew more about her, or for that matter the group standing by the tram, which is heading up to Market Street.

I can’t be sure but I rather think it is a Sunday sometime in the summer, partly because this is from the same series of pictures Fred Judge took around Manchester and may well be the next after the one on Cross Street.

In his photograph of Albert Square from Cross Street the time is just before three in the afternoon and here beside Oliver Cromwell the Cathedral clock is just coming up to a quarter to four.

Which was just enough time for him to stroll down and set up here.
The crowd by and large are oblivious to his presence and just get on with the day, some no doubt heading on to Bell Vue which is the final destination of our tram.


Picture; from the collection of V & G Harris

Unpicking the clues of a postcard, .... Piccadilly sometime in the early 20th

This is one of those photographs I keep coming back to because there is so much going on.

We are in Piccadilly and Queen Victoria dominates the picture.  And according the Judge catalogue the image was added to the collection in 1913.
 

It was one of seven in a series on Manchester and included Albert Square, the Town Hall, Market Street, the Cathedral and the University and yes you guessed there is study group who may be able to date the series.*

But leaving aside the date it is the sheer amount of detail which makes the card such a treasure.  Sitting on the steps of the Queen’s statute are two boy scouts.  Now I can’t be certain but it looks like they may just have some cleaning implements at their feet which could link them to Good Turn Day which was introduced in 1914 and morphed into Bob a Job Week in 1949.

All of which takes me back to a date.

But there is so much more to see.  There is the man who is casually leaning against the lamp post and the pile of discarded rubbish in the litter bin.  Like others in the picture he is wearing one of the straw hats which seems to remain in fashion into the 1920s.

We must be sometime in the summer given the presence of women in blouses and our scouts without their coats.

The long line of trams reminds us that this was a busy part of the town with most of them destined to head down Market Street which  would also be thronged with pedestrians on route down to St Mary's Gate or visiting the many shops and offices which ran its length.

And judging by the number of passengers on the upper decks of the open trams plenty of people have chosen to take in the fine weather on this summers day.

My own favourite detail is the horse drawn cab, number 382.  As it waits for a fare the horse is feeding from its feed bag.

Now I doubt it will  be possible to check out the name of the cab driver which as they say would be a whole new story to tell.

Picture; from the collection of Alan Brown

* JUDGES POSTCARD STUDY GROUP  

At the unfashionable end of the Tower of London

I am back with the Tower of London.*

And this is one of those picture postcards which I can’t see having sold very well.

After all it is unlikely to appeal to the tourist who wanted to share the grandeur and the magic of the old fortress by the Thames with family and friends.

Nor I suspect would it capture the interest of to the average Londoner who might well have such a scene everyday on their way to work.

That said it is a wonderful record of a busy day on Tower Hill  and is another of those Fred Judge postcards dating from sometime before the Great War.

Picture; London on Tower Hill, Judge, courtesy of Mark Flynn Postcards, http://www.markfynn.com/london-postcards.htm


*Mark Flynn Postcards, http://www.markfynn.com/london-postcards.htm

Market Street & J Lyons sometime around 1914

This is another one of those Judge postcards from sometime after 1911.

Now I can be fairly sure that Fred Judge took this shot after 1911 and very likely around 1914 because it is one of a series which record scenes across the city from Piccadilly to Albert Square, the Cathedral and the University.

We are on Market Street just where Cross Street and Corporation Street join it. Today the left hand side would be dominated by the Arndale Centre and our right by Boots the Chemist.

For Market Street this is an oddly quiet scene and while there are certainly lots of people out and about it doesn’t match the usual crowds that would swarm up and down.

And yet there is lots to see, but first the date.  It must be after 1910, possibly 1911, but more likely 1914.  The key is the J Lyons tea rooms at number 35.

Anyone of a certain generation will remember them, and in their time they were as popular and wide spread as any of the well known fast food outlets today.

“Always innovative and with an acute awareness of popular taste, Lyons brought a unique blend of showmanship, style and spectacle to its aim of combining high quality with value for money. This was achieved by maintaining control of all its manufacturing and servicing departments. 

The first Lyons teashop opened in 1894 at 213 Piccadilly. It was the forerunner of some 250 white and gold fronted teashops which occupied prominent positions in many of London's high streets and suburban towns and cities; corner sites with two entrances were preferred. 

At one time seven teashops operated in London's Oxford Street alone. Food and beverage charges were identical in each teashop, irrespective of locality, and the highest standards of hygiene were demanded by management. ”*

All of which fastens our picture to a time after 1911 and given that another in the series dates from after 1914 I think this must be the same.

As ever in these pictures it is the sheer number of horse drawn vehicles that impress me, ranging from the heavy covered wagon to the cabs and private carriages.

And then there are the bikes and hand carts competing with the pedestrians and usual paper seller.

*Lyons 1887-1998 http://www.kzwp.com/lyons/index.htm

** 35 and 74 Market Street, 44 Deansgate, 77 Piccadilly, 5 Princess Street and 74 Mosley Street, with its offices and steam bakeries at Jordan Street Knott Mill, Manchester, Salford & Suburban Directory, Part 2 1911

Picture; from the collections of G&V Harris

Albert Square circa 1914, a rare picture of a Sunday in Manchester

We are on Cross Street looking into Albert Square and from the absence of traffic it must be a Sunday afternoon.

Even so the square is oddly deserted.  But I suppose at just before 3 in the afternoon there is not much going on outside the Town Hall this Sunday.

All the offices and the few shops which face onto the square are closed which means the small number of people out and about must just be passing through, which in turn leave the  motor taxis with nothing to do.

It is another of those Fred Judge postcards and like the others I have featured dates from sometime before the Great War.* And given the close proximity of the photographs I guess he may well have taken them on the same day.

So while this one was taken at just before 3, the clock on his picture of the Cathedral has the time of 3.45.  Just enough time for him to walk down Cross Street and set up opposite the statute of Oliver Cromwell.

What I like about Fred Judge’s pictures is that they are taken from odd angles and do not follow the conventional picturesque approach.

Now anyone who has ever tried to photograph the Town Hall will know getting a good shot of the building is not easy, but he manages it and nicely captures the contrasts between the size of the offices on the corner with the Town Hall and the statue of Prince Albert.

Of course some will mutter that the absence of traffic on a Sunday in 1914 made standing in Cross Street less perilous than it would be today.

 But Fred Judge repeated it again and again in this series.

And here I think there is also something of that feel of a Sunday in Albert Square which you can still experience today, although usually it has to be much earlier in the day.

Picture; from the collection of V & G Harris

*1718 Albert Square. Manchester, 1719 Market St. Manchester, 1722 Town Hall. Manchester, 1724 Piccadilly, 1725 the Royal Infirmary. Manchester, 1726 Victoria University. Manchester, 1727 Manchester Cathedral.