Knights Point, South Island

Postmarked Christchurch, dated 1 December 1997.

Knights Point, South Westland, South Island, New Zealand.

The naming of this place amuses me. During the 1950s major road construction was being carried out on South Island. Two teams started work and met at a pictuesque point on the coast, north of Haast.

It was suggested that the place should be named after a senior offiical in the Ministry of Works. However the construction teams said that the place had already been named Knights Point. "Knight" turned out to be the surveyor's dog.

Marbella - Puerto Banus

Puerto Banús in Marbella, postmarked from London, England in 1998. Somebody forgot to post it while away!

Ciudad de Marbella (un estilo de vivir) Malaga - España
Puerto Banús (M15)

Puerto Banús is a luxury marina and shopping complex for the very wealthy jet-set. Around Marbella is a great golfing area.

Munich

Postmarked Klais and dated 5 October 1971.

München: Ludwigstrasse mit Blick auf das Zentrum

There are in fact three places in Germany known as München but the one known in English as Munich is Germany's third largest city. Ludwigstrasse is one of the city's four royal avenues.

The Palace of Versailles

Postmark illegible, dated 23 July 1974.
Versailles
Top row: Le Petit Trianon (1768) - Hameau de Trianon - La Maison de la Reine
Bottom row: Hameau de Trianon, le Moulin - Marie Antoinette à la Rose. Portrait de la Reine par Mme Vigée-Lebrun - Trianon "Jardin Anglais", Le Belvédère
These pictures are, apart from the portrait, all from the Palace gardens.
For three years we lived about 20 minutes away from Versailles and my younger son had an America girlfriend who lived there, so it was a town I came to know quite well. In spite of that I never actually saw the interior of the Palace, though I visited the grounds quite often when we had people staying.

Bournemouth

Postmarked Bournemouth, dated 1965.

The images are: Pier Approach, East Cliff, the Pavilion and Rockery, the Lower Gardens.

Once Bournemouth was considered to be rather old fashioned, and the sort of seaside resort that people would go to after they retired. Nowadays it has its own university and a younger population.

Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight

Never posted, and I don't know when it could have been bought.
P.1. Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight. The Gatehouse, from the north-west.
The Isle of Wight is hoping to become an eco-island, to include social, economic and environmental sustainability, by the year 2020.

Bonne Nuit Bay, Jersey

Postmarked Jersey, Channel Islands, and dated 24 September 1974.

Bonne Nuit Bay, Jersey, C. I. The tiny fishing port that captured the heart of Victor Hugo, Bonne Nuit, situated on the island's north coast, is surrounded by hills over 400 feet high. The bay is now a haven for yachtsmen and lobster fishermen. J.178.

One of the stamps used was from almost a year earlier, commemorating the wedding of Princess Anne to Captain Mark Phillips.

Batumi, Georgia

Приморский парк
БАТУМИ

I believe this means Primorsky Park, Batumi. Postmark dated (I think) 04-97412 and judging by the address it was sent to, I guess 1974 is the year. The stamps are Posta CCCP because that was well before the USSR broke up.

The message reads:

"Came to Sorchi after spending four days in Moscow..... Return home on Sunday after Leningrad."

Interesting. I don't know who sent it or why they were travelling in the USSR in those days.

Massif du Mont Blanc

Never posted, probably bought 1994.

Massif du Mont Blanc, 74 - Haute-Savoie.
L'Aiguille du Dru - Alt. 3754 m.

As mentioned on an earlier post, the Mont Blanc tunnel is a road tunnel in the Alps connecting Chamonix of France and Courmayeur of Italy, beneath the Mont Blanc massif. At 11.6 km, the tunnel was the longest road tunnel in the world at the time of its completion in 1965.

It runs between Courmayeur, Italy and Chamonix, France. On 24 March 1999 a truck fire started 6.7 km into the Italian part and spread to 35 other vehicles, creating intense heat and toxic fumes that killed 39 people. It lasted 53 hours.

It reopened three years later.

Eisenhower Home and Museum

Postmarked Manhattan, Kansas. Date illegible but it must be pre-1975 from the address.

Eisenhower Home and Museum, Abilene, Kansas. In this two-storey, white frame house in Abilene, former President Eisenhower and his five brothers grew to manhood. The Home is open to the public and is kept just as it was when the Eisenhower family lived here.

Dunblane Catherdral

Dunblane Cathedral, Dunblane, Scotland. Never posted but bought in the 1980s.
My elder son went to a school which held their Christmas carol concert at the cathedral. I took along my four-year old. After the first carol, when everyone had settled down quietly to listen to the first reading, the four-year-old asked in a piping and very clear voice, "Is it time to go home now?" Fortunately everyone saw the funny side of it.

C. N. Tower, Toronto

Postmarked Ottawa, dated 15 February 1983.

This spectacular night scene shows the illuminated C.N. Tower and the downtown buildings reflecting on the water below.

Photo by Ramon Stringer.

Forth Road Bridge Scotland

Postmarked Dunkeld, Strathmore, dated 3 August 1964.
Forth Road Bridge
This was sent to me by a school friend just as I was about to leave that school and move to another, so I can verify that is was 1964, the year the Forth Road Bridge was opened.

Chicago skyline

Postmarked Chicago, dated 21 September 1964.

Aerial view of State Street and Chicago skyline, Chicago, Illinois.
Looking north on State Street, showing New marina City's Twin Towers and Chicago skyscrapers with Lake Michigan in the background.

Chicago "The City beautiful" DT-80072-B 1964 Dexter Press

Beirut

Postmark very unclear, but using the address it was sent to and the date of the war as guides, it must be 1968.

Beirut from the mountains.

Part of the message:

"Visited the ancient city of Byblos this morning. It is very beautiful and Beirut is quite impressive after Egypt."

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

Not dated, unposted.

Vue générale - Les Aiguilles de Chamonix. L'Aiguille du Midi (3842 m.)

I must have bought this for my father, so that would make it 1993, on our way from Paris to Florence. Chamonix, the town, was singularly unimpressive during the summer, and packed. We had intended to stop there but decided to journey on through the Mont Blanc tunnel which was to be closed as a result of fire in 1999. It remained closed for three years.

St Helens, Mersyeside

Postmarked St Helens, dated 8 September 1975.

Balzac's house, Paris

Never posted, bought approximately 1994.

Maison de Balzac

Cliché: Musées de la Ville de Paris SPADEM 1989

Editions Paris-Musées

Abergwesyn

Postmarked Dulith Wells 8 August 1976.

Abergwesyn - Tregaron Road

Le Mans

Postmarked Le Mans 7 June 1973.

4/569 - Le Mans (Sarthe)

Circuit des 24 Heures [Official site]
Les Stands de ravitaillement, la nuit.

Message "Weather perfect - car faultless. Went on bridge of F.E. [Free Enterprise] but did not press the horn!"

This was long before the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster.

Longford Infirmary

Postmarked Longford, dated 2 April 1909.
Message on the back reads:
"This is the hospital Dr Mayne is in charge of. his house is on the left where the bicycle stands, this is where I go every afternoon for tea."
A card from Ireland, but of course at that date the stamp was British.

Oslo

Undated but brought home from Oslo by my husband so probably dates from late 1990s.

Aerial view of the town centre.

St John, New Brunswick

St John, NB, Water Front. In spite of the subject on the front of the card, it is postmarked Shoreham by Sea, Sussex. The stamp is George V who reigned 1911 to 1936. The date is 1 February but the year is illegible, if there at all.
The address is No 1 Battery, No 1 S.A. RB, Hut 40, Shoreham, so it seems it must have been written during World War I.

San Gabriel Mountains

Postmarked 19 April 1976.

From the back of the card: San Gabriel Mountains and Mt. San Antonio ("Old Baldy")

Gefion Fountain, Copenhagen

Dated 9 July 1972. Clearly from a member of a sports team as it mentions winning their first match.

The Gefion Fountain is the largest monument in Copenhagen

Widecombe, Devon

Widecombe-in-the-Moor. Postmarked Newton Abbot, 1 July 1976.

If you click the image you should be able to see the words to the song.

See also historical information about Tom Cobley.

Michigan

From the back of the card: Autumn splendor in Michigan.

It is clearly postmarked Gaylord MI, o1 October 2001, but most confusingly, has a $1.05 Canadian stamp.

Manawatu Gorge, New Zealand

From the back of the card, posted some time between 2000 and 2006:

The Manawatu River rises in the eastern Ruahine Range and defying logic, flows westward to reach the sea near Foxton. The road through the Gorge was built, under extreme difficulties in 1871-72 and instability continues to be a problem today.

The Giant's Causeway, County Antrim

The postmark is very unclear. Judging by the address, it must have been posted between 1965 and 1972.
Although the Giant's Causeway is in Northern Ireland, the postcard has an Irish 3 pence stamp.