Pre-history

I used to live not very far from the fossil laden Jurassic Coast in Dorset in the south of England, passed by it regularly, but needless to say all the good intentions of stopping for a proper look never happened.  I saw it from a distance but I have no postcards of the area at all.  Then we moved to another part of the country and lost my chance to see for myself.

The lack of postcards has now been addressed because I was delighted to receive the one above just the other day, and on it was - very aptly - one of the new issue of dinosaur stamps.  The card itself shows Ladram Bay which is in Devon rather than Dorset but just along the coast.  The rock formations are from  the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods but the whole is known as the Jurassic Coast.

I have been to the post office and bought myself the full issue of 10 stamps with the matching PHQ cards which you can see above.  They don't seem to call dinosaurs by the same names I learnt when my sons were in their dinosaur phase.  Or they're different dinosaurs.  Whichever, they do make attractive stamps and cards.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Work out at the gym

The gymnasium at the Royal Naval Barracks, Devonport (west Plymouth in Devon, England) shown on a postcard dating from about 1906 when the gymnasium was completed, with a space for correspondence marked "This space may be used for communication for Inland Postage only, NOT Foreign".

The men are standing in a most peculiar position.  I don't know what sort of exercise it was, possibly for flexibility, but I feel sure the gymnasium will look very different these days.

A post for Sepia Saturday.  A click on the button will take you to the blog.

The clock

Newton Abbot, at the head of the Teign estuary, is a prosperous market town which is so centrally situated that it fully implements its proud boast that tourists who make the town their centre can visit any beauty spot in Devon and return in time for dinner.  Courtney Park near the station is bordered by charming 19th century villas.  The town centre has some Georgian brick houses and stucco blocks gaily painted in a variety of pastel shades.

So it says on the reverse of the card (dated 1979).  Not that the card shows any of that.  It shows the Clock Tower, or St Leonard's Tower.  It is all that remains of St Leonard's Chapel, built in 1220.  Nearby there is a plaque to commemorate William of Orange's overnight stay in 1688.

There are two working clocks on the tower.  I focus on the clocks because tonight in the UK and, as far as I know, all of Europe, the clocks go back one hour, and summertime ends.  At 3 a.m. precisely.

Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o'clock is a scoundrel. ~ Samuel Johnson

By putting forward the hands of the clock you shall not advance the hour.~ Victor Hugo

Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do.~ Jean-Paul Sartre

When it's three o'clock in New York, it's still 1938 in London. ~ Bette Midler

Lov-elly Clovelly

"The village was built sheer up the face of a steep and lofty cliff.  There was no road in it, there was no wheeled vehicle in it, there was not a level yard in it.

From the sea-beach to the cliff-top two irregular rows of white houses, placed opposite to one another, and twisting here and there, and there and here, rose, like the sides of a long succession of stages of crooked ladders, and you climbed up the village or you climbed down the village by the staves between, some six feet wide or so, and made of sharp irregular stones."

Charles Dickens ~ A Message from the Sea

If you don't have Dickens' way with words, you can always use postcards instead.  For the privately owned village of Clovelly there are dozens to choose from, but essentially they all show the same scene.

High Street, Clovelly. Artist signed

Valentin's "Art Colour" Postcard.  High Street, Clovelly

Valentine's Art Colour Postcard A103.  High Street, Clovelly

Salmon Series Postcard.  Down-A-Long, Clovelly

Frith's Series Postcard. Clovelly, High Street

Charles Worcester Postcard.  Artist Elmer Keene.  High Street looking down, Clovelly.

Photochrom Postcard.  Clovelly, High Street.

Cotman Color Series Postcard 1975.

I do have about half a dozen more but I think you'll agree that there isn't much variation.  The High Street is called Up Along or Down Along, depending on your point of view at the time.

You can see equally that it was, and still is, impossible for a motor vehicle to go into the village, hence the donkeys.  The donkeys are still there but give rides to children.  These days goods are transported on sledges.

"And a mighty sing'lar and pretty place it is, as ever I saw in all the
days of my life!"

UPDATE:  The obituary for Mary Rous, one time guardian of Clovelly.  The link kindly sent to me by Linda of Arizona Skies.

This is a post for Postcard Friday, which is hosted by Beth Niquette at The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

A horse-drawn mailvan

Horse Drawn Mailvan circa 1940, at Broadhembury Post Office.
The mailvan was "rediscovered" in Exeter Head Post Office area and subsequently restored to ful working condition.
'Duke' courtesy of the Heavy Horse Centre, Cricket St Thomas.

This card was produced by the Post Office in 1982, as one of a series for the south west postal region.  Broadhembury is in Devon and the post office there still looks exactly the same minus, I suppose, the horse drawn van.

A post for Weekend Mailbox run at Gemma's Greyscale Territory. If you have any mail related post, do go on over and join in.

New naval barracks

Devonport Barracks

Portsmouth Barracks

Portsmouth Barracks

Until 1859, there was no such thing as continuous service or a career in the Royal Navy for ratings.  If sailors didn't volunteer for service, they were press-ganged for a voyage.  The voyage of course could last for years and there was no guarantee that the ship would return to the same port.  The sailors would be left free to go home, often a considerable distance away.

Eventually somebody, somewhere, realised that it was a waste of skills, and that if the men could be offered continuous service, better use could be made of their experience.  Obviously that meant that accommodation was needed to house the men, and so hulks of old ships no longer in service were used.

The conditions on the hulks were pretty spartan to say the least, and one source says that they were "unpleasant and uncomfortable", and that "it is remarkable that so many hundreds should have been compelled to live in such undesirable quarters for so long".  Eventually to provide better conditions, the powers that be decided that these new barracks shown on the postcards should be built.

The first port to do this was Devonport, where the barracks were first occupied in 1899, soon followed by Portsmouth in 1903.  They were described as "palaces", with electric light, and taps in every room.

The postcards showing these new barracks must have been produced fairly soon after the Portsmouth barracks opened because the instructions on the left hand side of the back state that the space could be used for "INLAND communication" and needed a half-penny stamp.  That would indicate that not everywhere allowed communication on the back of the card, a situation that lasted more or less until 1907.

It's interesting to see the people leaning over the wall in Portsmouth.  Was it a curiosity or was something special happening?

N is for New Naval barracks.  A post for ABC Wednesday.

Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, Exmoor

An unused postcard from F. Frith & Co., Ltd., Reigate.  The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway opened in 1898 and ran on a line bordering Exmoor in North Devon.  It was taken over by Southern Railway in 1922 and closed completely in 1935.

The Frith postcard company is interesting in its own right, producing postcards from the early 1890s.  When the company closed in 1971, the large stock of prints from the 19th century were in good condition and preserved as a unique historical archive.

St George's Day, England

Postmarked South Devon, dated 30 June 1976.
Cockington Forge, near Torquay, Devon, is considered to be one of the most picturesque villages in Devon, and being only a short distance from Torquay, it attracts large numbers of visitors.  The thatched forge is of particular interest, and it is the custom to leave your visiting card sticking in the thatch.  The Corporation purchased Cockington Court and approximately 270 acres of land, and are preserving the manor house with its wonderful gardens.

Part of the message reads, "it has been a wonderful holiday in spite of the heat".  Although it was early in the period, this is a reference to the heatwave that struck the UK that made the summer of 1976 the hottest since records began.  From 23 June until 7 July, each day at least one place somewhere in the UK reached 90°F (32.2°C).

This is as typically English a scene as I could find.  23 April is St George's Day and also Shakespeare's birthday, both commemorated for the day by google.co.uk using a special logo.  St George is the patron saint of England but the tradition of celebrating it as a feast day had waned by the 18th century. Gradually, very slowly, people are trying to counteract the indifference which has become the norm, and encourage a day of celebration.

Hope Cove, Devon

Postmarked Plymouth, dated 2 August 2005.

Hope Cove is made up of two separate villages - Outer Hope and Inner Hope.  Once it was a thriving fishing village, haunt of smugglers and plunderers of wrecks, but now mainly a holiday resort.

It is the only place in England where Spaniards came ashore during the reign of Elizabeth I.  One of the ships of the Spanish Armada was wrecked there on the Shippen Rock in 1588.

Dartmoor

Postmark illegible, dated 21 May 1997.

Dartmoor: the mysterious windswept hills of Devon, climbing to over 2,000 feet above sea level, are a paradise for those who wish to leave the turmoil of modern modern civilisation behind for a while. Picturesque granite-built villages nestle in folds of the moor, such as Widecombe, made famous in song, and antiquities, hut circles and clapper bridges abound. Dartmoor ponies will be found grazing in all parts of the moor.

The moor covers 368 square miles (953 square km). Over half of it is private land, much of it owned by the Prince of Wales, but there are no restrictions on where people can walk, even the areas used by the army.

Coryton Cove, Dawlish

Postmarked Exeter and dated 28 May 1977.

Dawlish is a small town on the south coast of Devon, in England. It grew from a fishing port in the 18th century to become a well-known seaside resort.

Buckfast Abbey

Postmarked South Devon, dated 30 June 1976.
383 Buckfast Abbey.
Buckfast Abbey has had a long history. It was founded in 1018 and in 1174 became a Cistercian abbey when it was rebuilt in stone. During the Reformation when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the monks were forced to leave and the abbey looted.

It was left in ruins for 200 years but restored by Benedictine monks from France who arrived in 1882.
The community is self-supporting. Their most well-known products are Buckfast Tonic Wine, and, less controversially, honey from their bees. They also have pigs and cattle on the farm and grow vegetables.

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.