A postcard with a difference, the Cathedral from 1902

I like this postcard of the Cathedral.

It combines a picture of the building along with the coat of arms of the city and an equally attractive image of a ship on the Ship Canal.

And there is a history to it for this will have been one of the last picture post cards to have the message on the front.

Until 1899 picture postcards could only have a small picture and short message on one side with just the address and stamp on the other.  But the regulations were relaxed in 1899 so that companies could produce a larger card with an image on one side and space for the message and address on the reverse.

This was in some part due to the postcard company of Raphael Tuck and Son who spent four years  negotiating with the Post Master General for the change.

The business began with the sale of pictures and frames in 1866 and went to become as a distributor of graphic art printing.

Their first regular series of postcards was issued in 1899, and this may date from soon afterwards.

Now I say that because within a few months of the change in the regulations Tuck had begun to issue the new style of cards.

But ours has the post mark of 1902 which I guess suggests that there were still plenty of the old stock around.

Nor is that all, for the message itself says much about how these early postcards were used.

Betty who sent the card is not interested in any great events, or in communicating holiday news but simply a request to borrow a cwt of coal if “Mr Mr P has not put in the coals.”

And is a reminder that in age before the telephone the post card was the quickest way of getiing in touch.

Picture, Manchester Cathedral, from the series Manchester, a set of three, produced by Tuck & Sons Ltd, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/

The stocking filler …. 1924

So …. I couldn’t resist this one.

I have no date for the 12 picture postcards that made up the series, but given that one of them was for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway which was formed in 1924, we must be sometime in the 1920s, through to the nationalization of the railways in 1948.

So far only six of the original twelve have turned up, but they include examples of railway locomotives from the LMS, the Great Western, The London & North Eastern Railway and the Southern Railway.

Each carries the flat layout on one side and instructions on the reverse for making the model.

Of the six I have chosen only two of which the first is an LMS loco and the second a Southern Railway.

And the logic behind the choice is simple, dad always had a sneaking admiration for the LMS, although given he was from the north east I would have thought that he might have settled on the LNER. card.

But his parents were Scottish and had only crossed the border at the turn of the last century, so I see where his sympathies may have laid.

So, having opted for the LMS. card, I then fell on the Southern Railway loco, simply because I grew up in south east London which had been served by the S.R  which became the Southern Region of British Railways.

But when it came to it, I couldn't ignore the GWR or the LNER and threw those into , with, and here I accept I am being nerdy, two more from the  LMS which because one ran on the London & North Western Section, and the other the Caledonian section, they carried a different livery.

And that is it. 

 For those who have forgotten a present, it should be possible to download the image, enlarge and print.

Merry Christmas

Pictures; Model Railway Engines, marketed by Tuck and Sons, circa 1924, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdbpostcards.org/

A little bit of the old Assize Courts in a farm house garden in Chorlton

Now I have to confess that this picture of Manchester Assize Courts interests me more for the story behind one of the figures that adorned the roof.

And this is the stone figure which sat in the garden of Park Brow Farm at the bottom of Sandy Lane where it joins St Werburghs Road.

My friend Tony Walker maintained that it came from the old Manchester Assize Courts on Great Ducie Street in Strangeways and looking at pictures of the building the figures do look the same.

It was designed by Alfred Waterhouse and finished in 1864.

Sadly this magnificent building did not last a century and after being hit during the blitz of December 1940 and again in ’41 it was demolished in 1957.

Some of the exterior sculptures were designed by Thomas Woolner who was one of the founding members of the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood, but I rather think our figure was the work of the Irish stonemason firm of O’Shea and Whelan.

Picture; The Assize Courts,   from the series Manchester United Kingdom, marketed by Tuck & Sons, 1903, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/ and stone figure from the collection of Tony Walker

Home thoughts of Ashton in the 1970s, ..... part 3 on coming across Stamford Park and the Sycamore

Now it is all a bit different when you don’t grow up in a place, so when we discovered Stamford Park one Sunday it was special.

And given the size of our house on Raynham Street the open spaces just fitted the bill.

Now “the original park, south of Darnton Road, was opened in 1873 on land purchased for £15,000. 

The money was raised by public subscription together with a gift of 30 acres from the Earl of Stamford. The park was enlarged in 1891 by acquisition of Chadwick's Dam reservoir, the southern part of which was made into a boating lake and the northern part into a feeder lake and fishing lake. 

The last major addition was in 1929 with the donation of 4 acres which was devoted to a children's playground. The park was run by a joint committee from Ashton and Stalybridge until 1974, when it passed to Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council.”*

Now I knew none of this at the time and in fact only came across its story recently.
Back then, the walk in the park was a prelude for an evening in the Sycamore which became a favourite haunt of ours.

All of which just leaves me with the postcard which was produced by Tuck & Sons around 1909.

It was part of a set of six published by Whittaker & Sons of Stalybridge.

Sadly the card does not have a message on the back but other’s in the collection do and I rather think I shall return to these if only to report more fully on young Pattie who sent a card of Stalybridge to Miss Mary Jameson in the USA on April 25th 1909.

Pictures; Stamford Park, from the series Stalybridge, by Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/

*Ashton-Under-Lyne, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Ashton-Under-Lyne

**Parks and gardens UK, http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/3045

Gambling on the popularity of a German Christmas card in the December of 1912

Now had I been a shop keeper in the run up to the Christmas of 1912 I might well have bought in to a few sets of Tuck and Sons “A Winter Campaign.”

The series showed a group of snowman in slightly different poses riding wooden horses.

The artist was Wally Fialkowska who was Austrian and the cards were produced in Bavaria and so naturally enough the snowman are wearing German military caps.

They seem to have proved popular with Mr Bernard Butler   who sent one to Madam J. Wetter at 67 Grafton Street, Fitzroy Square on December 24th wishing “you all a happy Xmas and a prosperous New Year.”

And also to “MRR” who on the back of another told Miss Halliday of Bridge Street, Banbridge, Co Down that the canary “was making such a row we had to banish him from the dining room and still he sings.”

Of course two years later and any that were still in stock would quietly have been thrown on the back of the fire, unless our shop keeper was optimistic enough to gamble on the war being “over by Christmas.”









Pictures; from “A WINTER CAMPAIGN” from the series, “A WINTER CAMPAIGN” 1912, marketed by Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdb.org/

At Greenwich Hospital in 1902

An occasional series featuring the postcards of Tuck & Sons and images of Greenwich at the very beginning of the 20th century.

Now I have rather neglected Greenwich and yet it was and is one of my favourite places.

I worked for a while at a camping shop on the road into Greenwich and spent three summer vacations working at a food factory on the river just minutes away from the Cutty Sark Park, which in turn was a place I remember fondly.

And of these it will be those warm summer evenings sat on the low wall opposite the pub drinking and chatting with friends and listening to the sound the barges made as they banged together in the wake of a passing ship.

This is the Hospital from a card dated 1902

And it is the detail that draws you in.

So for me as much as I am impressed by the buildings it is the humble working barges that I find fascinating.

Not of course that I am going to to romanticise working on the river.  It was hard dangerous and at times very unpleasant.

Anyone who has been caught in a chill wind blowing off the river in the depths of winter will know what I mean.

Picture; Greenwich Hospital,in the series, London, issued by Tuck & Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/

“OF ALL THE GIRLS 'TIS NICE TO MEET MANCHESTER GIRLS ARE HARD TO BEAT" in 1908

I rather think it must have been a slow day in the design room of Tuck and Sons when they came up with this picture postcard.

Here were six Manchester girls and just to underline that fact we have a picture of the Town Hall.

I may go off searching for the series from which it came to see what the other “Belles” were like.

But in the meantime I shall just leave you with the card and the title which must have taxed someone’s imagination, “OF ALL THE GIRLS 'TIS NICE TO MEET MANCHESTER GIRLS ARE HARD TO BEAT”

Picture;  OF ALL THE GIRLS 'TIS NICE TO MEET MANCHESTER GIRLS ARE HARD TO BEAT MANCHESTER TOWN HALL  from the series Our Belles, marketed by Tuck & Sons, 1908, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/ 

Back on Plumstead Common in the summer of 1905

This is one of 12 picture post cards which Tuck and Sons issued in the summer of 1905, and I rather like it.

So as I have more in the collection I rather think I will show some more over the next few days.

Picture; Plumstead Common, 1905, from the set Woolwich Town & City, by Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://www.tuckdb.org/

This really is the last of Sidcup in 1961

Well just when I thought I wouldn’t post another Sidcup picture, here is the last in the series from Tuck and Sons.

They were marketing a collection of images of the High Street in 1961 and this one of the parish church was too good not to include.

Location; Sidcup, London


Picture; Parish Church, Sidcup, from the set Sidcup by Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://www.tuckdb.org/,

Back in Sidcup in 1961, at the war memorial

I think this will be the last from the series of Sidcup in 1961.

This is the war memorial and our commercial photographer decided on just one more which was a close up of the parish church.

I have to confess I have never visited either but armed with this picture postcard I think I shall go looking for both next time I am home in Well Hall.

Picture; War Memorial, Sidcup, from the set Sidcup by Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://www.tuckdb.org/

Lost on Sidcup High Street, looking for Boots the Chemist

Now I am on a roll.

Having recently wandered up Sidcup High Street in 1961  as far as the old ABC, I back again today.

It is another picture postcard from Tuck and Son but sadly without a message on the reverse.

Still it will bring back memories for some at least with that collection of shops which include Woolworths, K Shoes and Boots.

Picture; Sidcup High Street, from the set Sidcup by Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://www.tuckdb.org/

Walking down Sidcup High Street in the August of 1961

Now it would be a full three years after this picture postcard of Sidcup High Street was sent before we settled in Eltham and a lot longer before I wandered down into Sidcup.

Well Hall had pretty much all I wanted back then and if I did feel adventurous  it was to Woolwich that I went.

So Sidcup in 1961was unknown to me and I haven’t been back since 1966, which means I have no idea to what extent the place looks like it did back then.

Of course the ABC cinema is no more.

It had a chequered history and lasted longer than most, having opened in 1909 as a concert hall, converted into a picture house five years later and getting an Art Deco make over in 1932.

It then went through a number of cinema chains, finally closing in 2000 and demolished three years later.

So had I ventured down into Sidcup in the 60s I could still have caught a film there but given the attractions of the Well Hall Odeon that was never to be.

All of which just leaves me to add that when Alf, Kath and Pauline sent the card on August 9th the weather “was rough but had been a scorcher” the day before.

Now I am hard pressed to remember the August of 1961 or what I was doing, but they may be those who do, and perhaps even what they were doing in Sidcup High Street all those years ago.

Picture; Sidcup High Street, from the set Sidcup by Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://www.tuckdb.org/

Camberwell ……. Clapham and faraway Chorlton-cum-Hardy

When I was growing up in Peckham, Camberwell was just a tad too far for an adventure, and by the time we moved to Well Hall, there were plenty of other places to distract me.

But now, after a decade of retirement and living in the North, my thoughts have returned to Camberwell which as a kid always seemed a notch above Lausanne Road.

And as you do I went looking for images, starting with that wonderful collection of old postcards on the Tuck DB site, which is dedicated to celebrating the picture postcards of Tuck & Sons.*

There are quite a few, but I was drawn to this one which featured a picture of Whitlock’s who sold clothes and had six branches across Camberwell, Brixton and Clapham.

This one was the shop on Clapham High Street, and the annual sale has generated quite an interest, with the staff posing for the camera.

And as you do I went looking for number 46 and while I can identify the site, the building behind the shop has been altered, and numbers 48, 46 and 44 are now occupied by a restaurant.

I haven’t yet researched Whitlock’s, but I know that by 1918 all three premises had been taken over by Richard Williams Ltd, Drapery, leaving me to ponder whether the Great War had something to do with their demise.

Still, in 1905 when the picture postcard was sent the firm appears to be doing well, and just possibly the staff may have finished their day with a visit to the Temperance Billiard Hall which is directly opposite but long ago changed its use.

The design of the halls is quite iconic and examples can be found across Greater Manchester. and no doubt pretty much everywhere.

They were built by The Temperance Billiard Hall Co Ltd which had been founded in 1906 and was based at 3 Ford Lane in Pendleton.

Now, the hall opposite our shop is almost identical to the one in the painting, and while the one above is now a pub, the Clapham hall is home to an architect firm called , Moxley.

In time I will go looking for more London temperance halls but for now will finish with that Whitelock shop, which must have been pleased at the crowd outside the door.

Leaving me just to say I did get to Camberwell sometime around 1959 or 60, played on the swings, and those wooden and iron hoses in a recreation ground, before making the long walk back to Lausanne Road.

Location; Clapham

Picture; 46 High Street Clapham, 1905, from Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdb.org/  

Painting, Sedge Lynn, formerly a Temperance snooker hall, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, © Peter Topping 2011 http://www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

*Tuck DB, https://tuckdb.org/ 

The London of 1949

The Pool of London in 1909

This is the Pool of London in 1909.

Fifty years later given a few changes and a bit of bomb damage and it is pretty much as I remember it.

Fast forward another half century and I doubt that  either me or the photographer would recognise much beyond the bridge and the Tower.

All of which is not so much a trip down memory lane, but an introduction to some of the films I got for Christmas.

Of these it is Train of Events and Pool of London I want to write about.  Both were made in 1949 and are very much of the period.

The Thames, the cranes, ships and the Tower, 1909

Train of Events starred Jack Warner and was one of those disaster morality movies, where a collection of little dramas are acted out in advance of a train crash and yes the murderer and the thief do not survive the crash.

In Pool of London a fairly ordinary crime story is given bite with the exploration of one of the first inter racial relationships in a British film.

Both reveal a wonderful slice of London life on the edge of the 1950s.  Here are trams, bomb sites, the rather shabby side of a post war London and plenty of scenes now lost forever.

In that respect they are fascinating social commentaries and perfectly capture the period I grew up in.

The river was still a working river, Tower Bridge opened and closed regularly during the course of a day, the trains were all pulled by steam locomotives and there were references to rationing, shortages and the last war.

Trafalgar Square, 1955

Not that this is some rosy, cosy nostalgic trip.

The interiors of the houses remind me of how little there was in terms of affluence for most people, and there is that prevailing sense that this is still the era of make and mend.

It was also a time of blatant racial prejudice and intolerance towards “living over the brush” and one where some at least had not yet managed to forgive our former enemies.

So watching the two as I did yesterday was both a pleasure and a lesson in history.  I am too young to remember the old trams but here they were, along with some old 1949 television programmes and some fine scenes of the river, the city as well as Blackheath and Greenwich.

Now for a historian and a Londoner that can’t be bad.

Pictures; The Pool of London, 1909, from the series London, and Trafalgar Square, 1955 from the series London, both marketed by Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/

A little bit of gentle humour in 1903

Now I thought about digging out a Victorian Christmas card given the date, but I have done those already in the past and anyway Christmas is pretty much covered where ever you look, so instead here is a gentle bit of fun.

It dates from around 1903 and was sold not only here in Britain but also in the U.S.A, and Canada.

And before I upset Karl who delievers our mail I shall just reiterate that the Post Office has never let us down.

Picture;  URGENT, BY SPECIAL MESSENGER from the series, comic sketches, marketed by Tuck and sons, 1903, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/

Out on the canal at Stalybridge

Now I have found 18 images of the Lock house on the canal at Stalybridge but this one is a new one.

I say new but it will have been taken sometime around 1909 and is another of the six I have been featuring from the series Tuck & Son produced.

They were one of the major producers of picture postcards during the 19th and 20th centuries and their cards pop up everywhere.

In this case on a wonderful site dedicated to the company.

Picture; the Lock House, Stalybridge, from the series Stalybridge, produced by Tuck & Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/

We all have our own Albert Square …….

Now Albert Square has always been a favourite place to photograph, even if the position of the Town Hall makes a perfectly posed shot difficult for most of us.

And just like I guess we all have our own chosen picture, depending on when you were growing up which may well determine the Albert Square you prefer.

But there will be no one left alive who can remember the crowds gathering to hear the Lord Mayor standing on the steps of the Town Hall, declaring the news of the end of the Great War.

Likewise those who celebrated V.E. Day around the statue of Prince Albert in May 1945 will be a dwindling band.

All of which brings me to this Albert Square, dating from 1950, when cars took the place of pedestrians, both on the square and all down Princess Street.

Enough said.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Albert Square, 1950, from a series of picture postcards by Tuck and Son, courtesy of Tuck DB, Pictures;  https://tuckdb.org/

When cars still took pride of place in St Ann’s Square

Now, this I remember.

We are in St Ann’s Square in 1950, and despite the cars parked and the traffic passing through, I like this St Ann’s Square.

Of course, the present pedestrianized space is safer and offers up a better place for those who want to sit and just relax with friends on a warm summer’s day.

But for anyone interested in the past it is well worth a closer look.

First there are the cars, which are a wonderful mix of the stately and run of the mill and span the decades back into the prewar.

And then there are the buildings, and in particular, the shops, all of which I suspect long ago went out of business.

During the next week I will be trawling the directories to see which were in the Square at the beginning of the last century and how many of them survived into the late 1960s.

And because this is 1950, I wonder what was happening to the building at the far end. 

The front is missing and its neigbour which stands on the corner looks damaged and is missing the top floor.

I suppose they might be the result of bomb damage which will lead me off on a hunt of the bomb maps.

All of which just leaves me to pass that obvious comment about the soot darkened buildings most of which would have to wait a full twenty years before the clean up revealed just how magnificent they were.

Location; Manchester

Picture; St Ann’s Square, 1950, from a series of picture postcards by Tuck and Son, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdb.org/

The one you don’t send home …. picture postcards from the seaside

I am guessing you could make out a convincing case for why these cards were just a representation of surfers on an Australian beach in 1914.

They come with the explanation on the reverse that the six are different depictions of surf bathing.

“The surf bathing at the beautiful seaside results, mainly, Coogee, Bondi and others near Sydney is almost all the year round the chief recreation among those who stay there.  

It can be indulged in without fear of injury from the sharks that infest these seas, if the bathers are content to disport themselves in the breakers and do not venture into the deep seas”.

Alas only three of the six made it into the collection, and none of them have messages on the back, that said the packaging and the commercial information did, and is a nice touch.

I especially like the guide to what Tuck and Son thought would be popular that year, ranging from their "Wide World" Series to the Charles Dickens Centenary with "Two Thousand Collections" in between.

And they are a reminder that the company was international with offices across the world and subject matter from all but one of the Continents.

All of that said I wonder if the appeal of them might be that there isn't a sea gull, a kiss me quick hat or a bag of seaside chips to be seen.

Just a group of young "things" enjoying the surf together, which some maiden aunts might not approve, nor some mothers who might wish for a scene of the cliffs.

But then that is me falling into the assumption of how morality stalked the holiday resorts, and I don't think it did. 

Location; Australia

Pictures; Surf Bathing, 1914, from Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdbpostcards.org/ 

A little bit of Leicester a century and a bit ago ..... part two

Now the city of Leicester is somewhere I have only recently discovered.

Belgrave Gate, 1902

And there is till much to explore, so I am pleased I came across a collection of picture postcards of the city at the beginning of the last century.

They were produced by Tuck and Sons, who were one of the leading manufacturers of picture postcards, with offices across Europe and North America.

Their Leicester collection spans the decades either side of 1900, and offers up a variety of scenes, from the market place, to the clock tower and the picturesque New Walk.

Now, anyone in possession of Street Google will be able to look up some of the locations and compare and contrast what they look like today with the past.

Cock Tower, 1902

Many come with the same general description which asserts that “Leicester possess claim to a very ancient history, and has many well known antiquities.  

It is now a thriving town and is well known as the centre of the hosiery trade.  Belgrave Gate is situated in the centre of the town and one of the main thoroughfares.”.

Location; Leicester

Pictures; Belgrave Gate and the Clock Tower, from a set of six, published in 1902, issued by Tuck & Sons, courtesy of TuckDB, http://tuckdb.org/history