Friday 17 April 2009

PFF: the story of a postcard journey

 

Postmarked Scarborough, dated 8 April 2009.
The Needles, Isle of Wight.

This lovely card  arrived yesterday, from John of English Wilderness.  It shows the Needles at the westernmost tip of the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England.  They are stacks of white chalk cutting into the sea with a lighthouse, built in 1859, at the far end.  Before that, the lighthouse was on the downs behind the Needles.  The area was a shipwreck blackspot.

For some interesting vintage postcards of the area, have a look at Isle of Wight Historic Postcards.

But the best thing about this card is that John sent me a series of pictures showing its journey.  It started off in this shop.


The sort of shop that sells everything, by the look of it, and the postcards are a bargain at 12p!



Then Thorness beach where the card was written, a beautiful empty beach.  It features again on John's blog.


The letterbox where it was posted. It is a George V wall box, dating from between 1920 and 1936.

I can really recommend English Wilderness for its beautiful photography showing the English countryside at its best.  It does one or two forays into Scotland I notice, because there are some stunning shots taken on top of Ben Nevis.

A post for Postcard Friendship Friday

16 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing this enjoyable post. I loved the photos on the card and have become curious about the Isle of Wight. But this summer I will travel to Cornwall, to hike along the South Coast with my son.

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  2. I'm glad you liked the card, Bob. The Isle of Wight is well worth a visit if you have the chance, but you'll love Cornwall, I'm sure of that. Hiking is the best way to see it.

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  3. Very pretty postcard... and how fun to see its journey...
    Hope all's well in your world...
    blessings...
    Pearl

    April ~Autism Awareness Month~

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  4. What an interesting natural phenomenon. I love the fact that John documented its journey for you. That letterbox is great.

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  5. Oh how clever of him ... I love this ... all we needed was the shot of you reaching into your mail box to complete the journey!

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  6. Beatiful card - how nice that the journey of the card was shared as well.

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  7. Beautiful card! And I loved seeing its journey!

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  8. I've always been curious about this part of the world. Very interesting post! And this mailbox is so cute compared to most in my part of the world. (Not so many, mostly drive through -- I'll have to take a photo one of these weeks.

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  9. I have a card from the Needles, and i find them really fascinating as a natural phenomena...but what i love more is the journey of the postcard shown in pictures! Just great from John to have thought of it!

    Happy PFF!

    ps. postcards at 12p each? at a local shop? i should move in there....not that cards are more expensive here...but you can only find them in the city centre..and i love...well, not in the city centre :)

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  10. This is just awesome! What a creative man! That was such a great idea of his:) I'll head over to his blog right now!

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  11. Journey of a postcard! :)

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  12. Hi Sheila. I love everything -- from the postcard and the series of photos showing the postcard's journey! This is one of the reasons why snail mail is great -- the effort and creativity of the sender shows :)


    Postcards Crossing

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  13. I want to see those Needles! They are spectacular, and the way you received the postcard with those photos of its journey is so creative! I want to see those Needles (oh, yes, I already said that.....)

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  14. great lanscapes of the Isle of Wight. Very nice.Happy PFF

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  15. Hi Sheila, thanks for featuring the postcard and thanks to everyone for the positive response :-) I wanted to do something slightly different and wasn't sure if it would be a good idea or not.

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  16. This is very interesting- I didn't know of the needles, and I liked John's journey of the card.

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Welcome to my postcard collection! I love hearing what you think of the cards - but spam WILL be deleted.

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