Vintage Postcard - Leamington Spa Weir and Suspension Bridge

Part of my collection of postcards is this one sent to 23 Bramble Street, Coventry on the 6th September 1901 or 1907, it looks like a 1 to me from the print but looking into the bridges history it wasn't built until 1903. Sadly I can't quite make out the surname of the couple who's first names are Annie & Arthur and appears to be from their cousin Emily. The postcard contains the following text as best I can make out.

"Dearest Annie & Arthur,

I thought perhaps you would like a postcard of Leamington,

my dear sister & I were both there yesterday, it is a beautiful place but I (can't make the word out but thinks it's discovered) you have both been. I shall come over to Coventry sometime & see you because you were both so kind the last time, we are having some beautiful weather now, so we shall both be very pleased to have you both over at Melton when it is most convenient for you to come, so with love & best wishes to you both I will say,

goodbye from your loving cousin Emily"

A copy of the post card without the text can be seen by clicking here.

The suspension bridge still stands today and to give it's proper name is known as the Mill Suspension Bridge, opening to the public in 1903. The bridge is Grade II listed as is the weir below and takes it's name from the site of the towns water mill which stood adjacent to the bridges site and was the towns primary source of water, the mill was demolished in 1899. The bridges design is thought to be based on the Albert Bridge which crossers the River Thames in London.

Until Britain adopted decimal coinage in 1971 the bridge was popular with people throwing pennies and half pennies from the bridge into the weir below, it was once considered good luck and a way of honouring the Gods, I can only assume it was still considered good luck after the bridges opening.

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Denby Dale Railway Station and Viaduct

Denby Dale Railway Station serves the village of Denby Dale in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, it was opened on the 1st July 1850 as a much larger, grander station featuring a number of buildings and platforms and track in both directions. Much of the Penistone Line was singled north of Stocksmoor Station but the line past Denby Dale had already been reduced, having been singled from Clayton West Junction to Penistone through the station and over the viaduct in 1969, with the north bound platform, buildings and entrance removed, not much is evident they were ever there now.

The station was planned by the Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway who had received permission from parliament to build the line in June 1845, by the time the build was completed and opened the line was owned by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway who they had merged with along with many others in July 1847.

The modern day station offers only limited facilities with no toilets or refreshments available, the village centre is only a short walk away though. It is currently used by an average of 3442 passengers per week with an hourly service in each direction Monday to Saturday. 

The pictures below, which can also be seen on Clickasnap were taken on the 21st May 2016 with a Nikon d3300 SLR camera.

The start of Denby Dale Viaduct is just visible down the track.

Denby Dale Viaduct was built along with the line and opened in 1850, originally it was constructed of timber, due to the local price of stone making the project unaffordable. Despite concerns and visit from the board of trade the timber viaduct remained until in March 1877, the railway company under heavy pressure from Huddersfield County Borough Council committed to building a new stone viaduct.  Work commenced on the new viaduct adjacent to the timber one in September 1877 and it was opened on the 15th May 1880. The viaduct is now Grade II listed and features 21 arches.

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Stadio Pierluigi Penzo, Venice

On a visit to Venice in October - November 2018 and being a football fan I wanted to try and visit the local football stadium, I must confess I knew nothing about the local team or even if they had one, but i was intrigued enough to find out knowing the Italians passion for football. 

Upon arrival I asked a couple of people and found yes Venice does have a local football team and they aren't that successful, having gone bankrupt for a third time in 2015 and during the season 2018-19 struggling to avoid relegation from Serie B, eventually surviving a relegation play-off. The only major honour the club has won is the Coppa Italia in 1941.

The stadium itself is the 2nd oldest continually used stadium in Italy, opening in 1913 and takes it's name from fighter pilot Pier Luigi Penzo who served during World War 1. The stadium's record attendance was 26000 in 1966 for a game against AC Milan, a figure that's unlikely to broken as the stadium now has a capacity of just 7450. The stadium looks a little sad and neglected from the outside, I was unable to enter as it was locked up tight and nobody was around to ask, I had thought that you would be able to enter for a small fee. The ground is unique in that visiting teams often arrive by boat.

There are a total of 7 pictures taken around the outside of the ground, they can be seen below or full size, resolution and un-watermarked on Clickasnap.

The video below is taken from my YouTube channel.

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Shepley Railway Station

Shepley Railway Station is an album of images taken by me on the 21st May 2016 using a Nikon d3300 SLR camera. They can be seen below or on Clickasnap higher resolution and un-watermarked by clicking any image.

Shepley railway station serves the villages of Shepley and Shelley on the outskirts of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Opened on the 1st July 1850 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, the line was authorised by an act of parliament on the 30th June 1845 to connect Huddersfield with the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway at Penistone. The line from Penistone to Manchester passed through the Woodhead tunnels and closed in 1981.

Shepley became a junction station on the 1st September 1879 when the 3.5 mile branch line to Clayton West opened and was known as Shepley and Shelley station during this time. The branch closed in 1983 and at the same time much of the Pensitone line was singled, with Shepley keeping it's double track layout only to provide a passing loop between here and Stocksmoor.

The modern day station is a 2 platform staggered lay out either side of a bridge, the station has been unstaffed since 1966 and has only limited facilities. There are no toilets, ticketing machines, disabled access or shops at the station. The station was used by 71536 passengers during 2018/19 at an average of 1375 per week a drop of approx 55 passengers per week on the previous year.

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Funeral of an Unknown Warrior.

As well as enjoying taking my own photographs, I also enjoy collecting old postcards, pictures, negatives and slides. I thought it might be of interest to start showing them on here alongside my own.

I thought I would start with these 2 postcards which were taken on the 11th November 1920 during the funeral of the unknown warrior.

The unknown warrior was selected by Brigadier L.J. Wyatt who was given a choice of soldiers whose remains had been exhumed from various battlefields and brought to a chapel at Saint Pol sur Ternoise, France on the night of November 7th 1920. Brigadier Wyatt was accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel E.A.S. Gell and neither man knew which battlefield each soldiers remains had been exhumed from. The remains had been placed in individual coffins covered by Union Flags, Brigadier Wyatt closed his eyes and rested his hand on one of the coffins which was then selected. The other soldiers remains were then taken away for reburial overseen by the Reverend George Kendall OBE.

The coffin of the unknown warrior then remained in the chapel overnight, and was transferred the following day with a guard and escort, as well as troops lining the route to the castle library, within the ancient citadel at Boulogne where it was guarded overnight by a company of soldiers from the French 8th Infantry Regiment.

On the 9th November 1920 the coffin was places within a casket made from oak timbers of trees within the grounds of Hampton Court Place. The casket was then affixed with a sword chosen personally by King George V from the Royal Collection and banded with iron. The shield that was fixed upon the top of the sword and casket bared the inscription "A British Warrior who fell in the Great War 1914-1918 for King and Country". The coffin was then drawn by six black horses on a French military wagon for the mile long journey to the harbour, The wagon being escorted by local schoolchildren and a division of French troops. The French infantry playing Aux Champs as the coffin left Boulogne.

The casket was met at the harbour by the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Verdun, and was piped aboard with the admirals call, whilst Marshal Foch the commander of the French Armies during the Great War saluted the casket before it was carried up the gangway. The ship left around noon and was joined by an escort of 6 battleships for it's journey across the channel. As the flotilla approached Dover it was greeted by a 19 gun Field Marshals salute.

The casket was landed on the 10th November and travelled from Dover Marine Railway Station to Victoria Station, London where it was to arrive at Platform 8 at 8.32 pm and remain overnight.

Placed on a gun carriage and drawn by 6 horses the casket began it's final journey on the morning of 11 November 1920 passing through large, silent and respectful crowds. Upon departure from Victoria, there was another Field Marshals salute fired in Hype Park. The cortege route passed Hyde Park Corner, The Mall and Whitehall where King George V unveiled the Cenotaph. It was then followed by the King, the Royal Family and ministers of state to Westminster Abbey where it was interred in the far western end of the nave, in soil brought from each of the main Great War battlefields. The grave is capped with a black Belgian marble stone and is the only tomb within Westminster Abbey that people are forbidden to walk. The ceremony included a guard of honour by 100 recipients of the Victoria Cross. The guest of honour at the service were a group of about 100 women who had lost their husbands and all their sons in the war. After internment the armed forces stood guard as tens of thousands of mourners filed past to pay their respects.

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Sowerby Bridge, Then and Now

Sowerby Bridge, then and now is a short video I put together for my YouTube channel that features a collection of postcards and images taken around Sowerby Bridge at the turn of the 20th century, and a collection of modern images taken in similar positions to the original image.

The video includes street scenes, waterside scenes and architecture from around the town.

All the pictures feature details of where the image is.

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Jubliee Class Locomotive 45562 Alberta.

The video that follows is a short one taken on the 29th February 2020. I also took 3 images from the video which can be seen below. 

On the day I was out for a walk through North Dean a woodland that stretchers along the valley from Copley to West Vale and up towards Greetland and Norland. The main railway line between Brighouse and Sowerby Bridge runs along the bottom of the woods and whilst out for my wonder I was made aware that a steam train was due to run along the line shortly, so I decided to set up along the line from the bridge that crossers the River Calder, arriving just as the Train was approaching from Greetland Junction. I had enough time to set up my action camera facing east and my phone facing west near to the track but a safe distance away, I didn't want to become a safety issue. 

The end result is the short video below, which can be seen here or on YouTube.

I can't push the point enough that although it may look close to the railway at no point was I anywhere near the trackbed. The following were taken from the footage and can be seen on Clickasnap.

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Historic Pictures of Sowerby Bridge

Historic pictures of Sowerby Bridge is a set of 3 YouTube videos I have done featuring images taken in various areas of the town of Sowerby Bridge taken in the last 150 years. The images are part of a collection I recently acquired and I am advised are all public domain, copyright free images with some being part of a Lilywhites postcards collection of over 100 years plus in age. If I am not informed correctly regarding the copyright then I will happily credit or remove the picture at request.

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Kincardine Bridge, Scotland.

Kincardine Bridge is a new video I have uploaded to YouTube showing a crossing of the bridge in both directions in November 2019.

The bridge crossers the River Forth approx. 25 miles north west of Edinburgh, and was the nearest road crossing to Scotland's Capital until the Forth Road Bridge opened in 1964. Kincardine Bridge is still the alternative crossing to the Forth Road Bridge and Queensferry Crossing when they are closed or restricted due to accidents or severe weather. The bridge connects the boroughs of Falkirk and Fife.

Built between 1932 and 1936 by designers Sir Alexander Gibb and Architect Donald Watson, the opening having been delayed due to a steam ship crashing into the construction in February 1935. The decision to build the bridge having been made when traffic levels at Stirling Bridge, which then was the nearest point of crossing the Forth other than by ferry had risen from approx. 150 per hour in 1922 to over 400 per hour by 1932. Built with a central section a of 364ft that acted as a swing bridge to allow ships to pass through to the Port of Alloa, this section remaining in use until 1988 and being locked shut in 1989. The mechanics are still there to operate the swing bridge but it is unlikely ever to be used again. The bridge has a total length of 2697ft and cost £327000 to build. Whilst still in use it was replaced as the main bridge crossing in 2008 by the Clackmannanshire Bridge which cost £120 million to complete.

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Road Views of Britain, A Drive from Ross on Wye to Monmouth.

A drive from Ross on Wye to Monmouth is a new video I have uploaded to YouTube. The stretch of road driven along is probably one of the most scenic in Britain and the video takes in approx. 12 miles from the end of the M50 motorway, along the A449 and A40 and completes just after I emerged from the Gibraltar tunnel at Monmouth. It was filmed on a dash cam from a higher up vantage point than normal as I was driving a long in my DAF XF truck.

The video was filmed on Wednesday January 29th 2020.

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Vintage War Posters

A few years ago I bought a collection of copyright free posters and images off a collector and if I'm honest I was stuck for an idea of what to do with them, so they just sat on a hard drive waiting. I recently remembered I had them and came up with tidying them up a little and using them as slideshows for my YouTube channel.

The first set of pictures I used were selected from an album of wartime posters featuring propaganda for women to work, men to be recruited to various forces, rationing, promoting peace and nationalism. They are taken from many conflicts and various countries involved. I have done this slideshows more as a historical propaganda show reel rather than promoting conflict and they are to show how propaganda was used to help with wartime efforts.

I will be working on more over the next few weeks to upload to my YouTube channel from travel posters to vintage pin ups to more wartime posters as well as continuing to upload my own collection of images. Click here and take a moment to subscribe to my YouTube channel. The vintage pin ups will not be posted here but will be available to view on YouTube. Below is a selection of the posters featured in the videos

 

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