I have recently been going through some of my postcard collection with the intention of selling a few off, and whilst in the process of sorting and listing I thought it might be of interest to feature some of the postcards on here. Todays selection is 2 from Lancashire and 1 from Cheshire, all counties in the north of England.
Blackpool.
The card although unwritten and undated was probably from the 1950's and was published by Sandman Brothers of Blackpool. The images features are of Blackpool Tower, a gondola, Starlight Parade and Gynn Gardens.
Chorley.
The Chorley Postcard was posted in 1986 and is a typical example of a 1980's quite boring postcard. The card features images of St Marys Church and Chorley Town Hall.
Compstall.
Compstall is a suburb of Stockport in Cheshire and although it has been written on, it appears to have never been posted. The images are names as the Watermeetings, and the Aquaduct and Viaduct.
Clicking the images should open a link in another window to my Clickasnap profile.
Thanks for looking, please take a moment to share and follow me on social media.
Part of my collection of postcards is this set of 3 featuring mixed images of Southsea and Hayling Island, both areas to the south east of Portsmouth, England. All 3 have been posted and still have the stamps attached.
Postcard 1 Southsea.
This card features a set of images including the Rock Gardens, Beech and Canoe Lake, HMS Victory moored at Portsmouth and South Parade Pier. It was posted on the 14th June 1967 to the Daily Mirror and includes the following intriguing text "Don't you trust my judgement then". I'm guessing it was something to do with tips for horse racing or greyhound racing.
Postcard 2 Hayling Island.
This card features 9 images of the area and was posted on the 24th June 1965 to Scotland. The scenes included are Sandy Point, Salterns Creek, the Beech, a general view of the island, the Boating Lake, Eastoke Bungalow Town, the Ferry and Manor Road.
Postcard 3 Southsea.
The final postcard is another from Southsea and features 7 images from the area. It was posted on the 22nd September 1960, sadly I can't make much of the writing out. The images show South Parade Pier, the Miniature Railway, HMS Victory, the Rock Gardens, the Canoe Lake and the Hole in the Wall, Sallyport, Portsmouth.
Clicking any image should open a link in another window to my Clickasnap profile.
Thanks for looking, please take a moment to share and follow me on social media.
Reddish South Railway Station is a stop that serves the community of Reddish, Stockport. Frequently amongst the 10 least used stations in the whole of the UK, Reddish South currently has 2 scheduled stops per week both on a Saturday morning in each direction.
Reddish South opened in October 1845 when the line between Stockport and Guide Bridge was completed by the Manchester & Birmingham Railway, barely a year later the line passed into the ownership of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) when the M&BR, Grand Junction Railway and Liverpool and Manchester Railways merged.
The station was a busy stop in it's early tears and consisted of 2 island platforms, a signal box, engine shed and large goods yard. The station was busy throughout it's first half century until trains were redirected in May 1899, reducing much of the passing railway traffic.
Reddish South continued to decline and by the 1960's, British Rail was under large scale downsizing as part of the Beeching cuts and despite many stations like Reddish South and lines like the Stockport-Stalybridge closing they survived the cuts. Despite surviving the station continued to be run down with a lack of investment with the line reduced to single track status, the 2 island platforms reduced to 1 and the the track bed filled in, the station buildings and engine shed demolished and eventually the sidings and land around the station sold off and redeveloped.
By the 1980's Reddish South had become a request stop only and even this was eventually reduced to a parliamentary service of 1 train per week at 9.22am on a Friday from Stockport to Stalybridge. In 2007 proposals were made to close the station along with Denton to the north, but keep the line open. This prompted a campaign to get more services and investment at Reddish South and a local group has added a mural, flower bed and picket fence to brighten the station up.
The station today suffers because of a lack of investment, no facilities and only 2 scheduled stops per week, both on a Saturday morning in each direction. Whilst there you could see plenty of house buildings adjacent to Reddish South and a large Morrisons store is located just behind the mural that are potential customers to the stop. Just 158 passengers used the station in 2019/20, an average of 3 per week, the stop is just 1 mile from Reddish North Railway Station which served 242000 in the same period, over 1531 times the amount that used Reddish South.
The pictures were taken on the 15th December 2020 using a Nikon d3300 SLR, they can be seen below and on Clickasnap un-watermarked and higher resolution by clicking any image.
The stations only entrance, the infilled section to the right was once trackbed making the station multi platform, it is now served by 1.
Despite low usage, a lack of investment, and 1 train a week stopping the stations limited facilities are looked after by Friends of Reddish South.
To the stations northern end, past a limited size fence is the disused section of the platform. The construction site to the right used to be the stations goods yard.
The fence represents the end of the used part of the station.
The used part of the station, showing the lack of facilities and shelters.
Freightliner 66610 passing through the station, the line is mainly used by freight trains.
The station viewed from the bridge, the former goods yard having houses constructed on it.
Clicking any image should open a link in another window to the un-watermarked, higher resolution version on Clickasnap.
Thanks for looking, please take a moment to share and follow me on social media.
All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.
Part of my collection of postcards this set of 4 is one I currently have for sale and feature various images from Buxton, Derbyshire, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. Oakham, Rutland and March Cambridgeshire.
Buxton.
The card I have a Buxton actually features a fold away set of pictures that pull down to reveal another set of pictures from Buxton. I haven't scanned these yet but will do shortly. The main pictures are of Buxton from the Town Hall, The Pavilion Gardens, The Crescent and Serpentine walk at the Pavilion Gardens.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
The pictures featured in the Ashby-de-la-Zouch card number 5 and feature the castle ruins, Bath Street, Trinity Church, Elizabethan House and the Loudoun Memorial.
Oakham.
The 4 images shown here are All Saints Church, High Street, Market Place and the Castle.
March.
The final card featured in this post shows March, Cambridgeshire in a set of 3 pictures that include St Windreda's Church, River Nene and Broad Street.
Clicking any image should open a link in another window to my Clickasnap profile.
Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share and follow me on social media.
Part of my collection of collectible postcards, these are part of a collection I am currently listing on Ebay. The all feature multiple pictures of the location featured and can be seen here and on Flickr.
Hereford.
There are 2 postcards featuring scenes from Hereford, card 1 features The Old House, Cathedral Tower and bridge across the River Wye.
Card 2 features images of the Cathedral, Wye Bridge and the Old House.
Evesham.
The images features in the Evesham card include the Hampston Ferry, Gaiety Boat, Bell Tower and Evesham Lock.
Stoneleigh.
Stoneleigh, Warwickshire features images of Park Avenue West, The Broadway, Stoneleigh Hotel, Ewell Court House.
Blenheim Palace.
This card contains images of Sir Winston Churchill, Blenheim Palace, The Great Hall, the room in which Sir Winston Churchill was born and the Lake.
Stratford-on-Avon.
The final card in this post features images from Stratford-on-Avon. The pictures include the River Avon and Clopton Bridge, Shakespeare's Birthplace, Ann Hathaways House, The Gower Monument and Basin and the Avon & Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.
Clicking any image should open a link in another window to my Clickasnap profile.
Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share and follow me on social media.
Part of a series of paintings by Vincent Van Gogh created in June 1888, when he took a trip to the area from Arles where he was then living. He was there for a week long trip to recover from health problems he had suffered from at the time.
The picture is also known as Fishing Boats on the Beech at Saintes-Maries-De-La-Mer, according to Wikipedia Van Gogh described to his brother the following
"I made the drawing of the boats when I left very early in the morning, and I am now working on a painting based on it, a size 30 canvas with more sea and sky on the right. It was before the boats hastened out, i had watched them every morning, but as they leave very early I didn't have time to paint them."
This was the front of a postcard I recently purchased, clicking the image will open a link in another window to my Clickasnap profile.
Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share and follow me on social media.
The Woolshops is a shopping centre in the heart of Halifax, West Yorkshire. Named after the Grade II listed timber building built in 1670, that can be found to the north west of the precinct. The centre was originally planned as an Arndale Centre in the mid 1970's, this development would have seen the Woolshops or Tudor house building disappear with many of the other long standing properties nearby. This plan was abandoned by 1979 when a number of the anchor tenants withdrew from the project leading to the building of the Woolshops as an alternative. Phase 1 was completed in 1983, Phase 2 saw additional shops added opposite Marks and Spencers and towards the north gate of the Piece Hall on the site of the car park during the late 1990's - early 2000's
These pictures were taken on an early Sunday morning in May 2018, using a Nikon d3300. The emptiness shows how town centres are suffering from reduced footfall due to restrictive parking, higher pricing and in recent years the effect of Covid.
The centre is named after the building to the left of the picture housing Coffee Cali, the building known as the Woolshops is thought to be amongst the oldest still remaining in Halifax Town Centre. The steps now feature a statue dedictaed to the Duke of Wellington's Regiment.
Clicking any picture should open a link in another window to the un-watermarked version on Clickasnap.
Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share and follow me on social media.
All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.
