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The list of reports & club bulletins starts with Latest for 2023 at the top

 

 

As the club is now meeting every month this section will only contain a synopsis of the talk given at the club.

If you would like a copy of the bulletin please email our secretary Karlyn on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and she will email you a copy.

The entertainment for January was a 2-minute talk session on ‘A card with a story’.

John Lawson-Reay was the M.C. and photographer. He began the session with a card showing the hotel building on the summit of Snowdon.
John chose this card as we don’t often see ones with so much snow. The visitor-building at the end of the line was designed in the 1930s by Clough Williams Ellis, of Portmeirion fame.The windows were damaged by the high winds, and bad weather, so the design was revised by Clough. The railway would have made it easy to get the building materials to the summit. It was updated in the 1980s but in 1992 a competition was launched to design a new building for the summit, which resulted in the Hafod Eryri Visitor Centre, which opened in 2009. Some years ago, John chatted with Clough about his building and said that he thought it resembled a concrete military bunker, which could have been in use in WW2, perhaps for radar to spot incoming enemy planes.

 

Keith’s card is an early issue, sent from Trevalyn Hall, Rossett, to Pulford Hall, and posted in Wrexham in March 1876.
On the back of the card, is some interesting and unusual information. At Trevalyn Hall, the daily rainfall was measured, captured by using a 4” Diameter cone in a jar. The note reveals that it was 2.98“ on average for January. Keith also told us that his father’s house in Queensferry was bombed during the war. The enemy planes would go to Liverpool, and then drop any left-over bombs nearby as they left the area.

Sue had a very personal story to tell us. Hensol Castle in Glamorgan was built in the 17th & 18th Centuries. In 1926 it was sold to the Glamorgan County Council and opened as a mental hospital and a place for people with learning disabilities There were up to 500 patients. In 1966, 18-year-old Sue, a nurse, visited the Asylum as part of her training. She had no knowledge of mental illness, and learnt that patients would walk out if the gates were left open. She was distressed to see, through a window at the back of the building, that there were babies in the room with no toys or any other things for young children. Sue was very upset to discover that her best friend from Primary School was a patient too.

The hospital closed in 2003, and is now a wedding venue and luxury apartments.Thank you, Sue, for sharing such difficult memories with us. We were, all of us, touched by your story.

Trebor’s card was a portrait of David Lloyd George, in the Tuck Oilette series. We were kept in suspense to discover how our one-time Prime Minister could be linked to a Chicago gangster....
Bryan Humphreys and Ann Wigley farmed in Carno, Mid-Wales. When their lives in the countryside became difficult, they emigrated to the USA, landing in Chicago, where their son Llewelyn Morris Humphreys was born in 1899. By the age of 13, he was already in trouble, as the family’s circumstances had not improved in America, and he tried to help by getting a job, and then became involved with the Chicago gangs. He had tried to hi-jack a lorry which contained a consignment of alcohol which belonged to notorious gangster Al Capone. Al, was impressed with Murray, as he became known, and he eventually became Capone’s manager “The Camel”. Al was only 3 months older than Murray, who helped to plan the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929. He ran the organization in Chicago after Capone’s death in 1947. Murray visited Wales once, in 1963, and died on November 23rd. The link turned out to be that DLG and Al Capone had the same birthday – 17th January.
DLG was born in 1863, and Al in 1899. Brilliant, Trebor! thanks.

The beautiful Nant Ffrancon Valley in Snowdonia was Brian’s choice for the session, as it has had a good effect on his life. He was born in Southport, and came to Nant Ffrancon on a school trip. He fell in love with the area, and has enjoyed visiting it ever since. He walked his dog there, to help with recovery after a major operation. Brian is a photographer, and began taking photos of the valley, and then of the birds. He has feeding stations in the valley, and monitors the bird populations for the RSPB and National Trust. One fact that surprised some of us, was that a line was put across the valley to prevent German planes from using the route during WW2.

 

Report on the talk given to the club on December 14th 2022

 

A Tuck Christmas – a presentation by Trebor.

 

Trebor’s collection of postcards by publisher Raphael Tuck & Sons has a surprising number of beautiful Christmas cards, which he brought along for us to enjoy at the December meeting.

Tuck published postcards between 1899 to 1962. The well-loved ‘Oilette’ artist-drawn series began in 1903, and many thousands of sets were issued.

Trebor’s display began at the beginning, with the Nativity, the shepherds and the Wise Men, and then explored the meanings and origins of the traditions of the Christmas period.

 

 

   Some of the early Christmas cards had atmospheric scenes by artists such as Professor Van Hier, or snow scenes by B. Simpson, showing life in the dark days of winter. Evergreen plants were used for decoration from early times, and heralded better times ahead. Saturnalia was a Roman festival which was held in mid-December, and honoured Saturn, the god of agriculture. Gifts were given to ensure a good productive year ahead.

   Some of the most beautiful cards were those which were medieval in style, with images in an ‘illuminated-manuscript’ frame.

 

   Robins were a popular theme at this time of year. The red of their breasts was said to have been made when they brushed against Christ’s blood during the crucifixion. A card by Alice West, a specialist in bird-art, shows a robin’s breast in an orange hue, probably reflecting its true colour. The postmen in Victorian times were nicknamed ‘robins’ or ‘red-breasts’ as they wore bright red coats.

  The Christmas tree is one of the most popular of the traditions, and the dressing of the tree is a special event for children. The tradition comes from Germanic countries. Queen Victoria wrote in her diary, when she was 13 years old, about putting ornaments on the tree. Lit candles were a feature of early trees, but these were changed to the safer electric lights later

   Among other Christmas highlights, shown on the “Oilette” cards, were wassailing, carol-singing, crackers, mistletoe, angels and glitter-cards.

   Food is an important part of the Christmas season. Mince pies and Christmas pudding were savoury before they changed to being sweets. Wishbones and 6d-pieces were put into the puddings. Taking food to those in need was a reference to the Christmas story of gifts given to baby Jesus.

   Father Christmas was based on St. Nicholas [‘Santa Claus’], who was a Bishop and miracle-worker who was very wealthy, but gave to others. In the early postcards, he is dressed in various coloured robes, including green or brown, before the more usual red robes of today. He carries a sack of presents for the children. The 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore tells us the names of all Santa’s reindeer, as well as about Santa’s sleigh landing on the roof, allowing him entrance to the house down the chimney to deliver his presents.

 

   Trebor showed how Tuck used the same image for several cards in a set, by taking small parts and enlarging them to make other cards, giving 3 different images. Verses were added to some cards.

   To finish, we were touched by Trebor’s own Christmas story. Recently, he was given a “Holiday Times” annual from about 1914/15 by his daughter, and it had this Tuck Christmas card illustration by Agnes Richardson the cover.

 

   Trebor is a former teacher and his animated style of speaking brought the cards to life for us – we wish we had been his pupils! Thank you Trebor for a most memorable and enjoyable evening!

 

   This will probably be my last bulletin, so I thank everyone for their contributions and kind comments over the few years we have been doing this, and I look forward to welcoming a new bulletin editor for 2023.

 

Happy New Year. Best wishes, Karlyn

 

 

Report on the talk given to the club on November 9th 2022

 

The talk in November was my delayed “Shopping in Chester”.

  The scene was set by a brief look at the history of the city, from Roman times, including a photo of a silver 1d. from the reign of Aethelred II, c966-1016 AD. and a rather harsh criticism of the cobbled pavements in a book of 1829. In 2012, there were 71 empty shop units, and the council was ‘alarmed’.

We are doing our shopping mainly in the prestigious Eastgate Street and Row.

  This beautiful high-quality real photo shows the street, with ‘Brown & Co. Silk Mercers to Her Majesty’ nearest on the right, and next door, Bolland’s, with the ‘Restaurant’ sign. Printers Phillipson & Golder are in the second gabled building.. The row of columns at street level, on the right, near to the arch, is the Grosvenor Hotel. Note the horse-drawn trams.

 

         Our first stop is Bolland’s which was described in the 1848 ‘Parry’s Railway Companion’ as “Successor to the late

Mrs Thomas, Richard Bolland, Confectionery by Appointment to her Majesty Queen Victoria”. [They had made her wedding-cake.] Adverts show that they held the Royal Warrants for many years.  

    The shop was originally at 40, Eastgate Row, as in the picture above, but moved 2 doors down when Brown’s wanted their premises back. The firm needed to advertise their move, and printers and stationers, Phillipson & Golder, their neighbours at 42 Eastgate Row, produced a set of cards for them.

 

 

Bolland’s new premises, much closer to the Grosvenor Hotel. Their ‘Oyster Bar’ can be seen in the lower right corner

of the picture. Little’s grocery shop is at the end of the row.

    The trio, shown on the card below, played daily between 11am and 3.30pm for patrons. Some other adverts tell us that motor cars and cycles could be parked free of charge if dining in the Restaurant, and that one of the delicacies on the menu was Turtle Soup, made from fresh turtles!    

Bolland’s also had a Riverside café and a Marquee for outside catering, which, Barbara told me, the Anglesey WI used for one of their events. The Eastgate shop was sold in 1963.

 

 

An early advert showing 40 Eastgate Row. The proprietors are R. Bolland & Sons Ltd.

 

 

One of the cards produced for the new premises by Phillipson & Golder.

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     Brown’s was established by Mrs Susannah Brown in 1795. In 1814 more buildings were bought by her sons W. and H. Brown, & rebuilt in the classical style. In 1858, the three buildings were remodelled in Tudor, Georgian-classical and Gothic styles. [see the picture with the ‘Boots’ section.]

   In 1908, King Edward VII came to the races on Chester Cup Day, which was a very wet day. .A special Royal Box was erected in the County Stand, and was furnished by Brown’s. On an invoice dated 30/07/31:- “Brown & Co., Chester Ltd. 34-40 Eastgate St. Telephone 1. Established in the reign of George III. The Premier Fashion and Furnishing House of the North of England.” The name 'Browns of Chester' was registered in 1936, but it had been in use for many years - note their name on the floor of the doorway.

 

   Brown’s also had mills in Holywell, which made a variety of items in materials such as flannel and tweeds.

  After WW2, in a brochure of 1945, Brown’s tried to tempt people to come back to see their enlarged shop and new stock. Some of the items still needed coupons. Men’s light weight dressing gowns in art silk from 69/9d – 7 coupons; Plain linen sheets £4/2/8d a pair - 6 coupons; Pillow cases, coupon-free.

   In 1976, the store was bought by Debenhams and renamed ‘Debenhams in Chester – Browns of Chester’ to take advantage of the superb reputation of Brown’s as the best department store in the north. I remember the thick carpets on the floors, which gave you the sense of being somewhere very special. In 2016, Debenhams spent £1m on a major refurbishment, which meant that it lost much of its up-market feel. On 9th April 2019, Debenham’s went into administration. The stores were still open, but some were scheduled for closure. In early 2021, it was said that all the shops would close, but on April 12th, some opened for a closing-down sale. In May 2021, the Chester store closed permanently, and in 2022 it was put up for sale with an estimated value of £4m. The building has now been sold.

   Something which I discovered when researching the story of Chester libraries, was that in the early 1920s, the library was housed in a building in St John St, which became too small for the increased usage, and was no longer fit for purpose. The Council looked for other suitable buildings in the city, but couldn’t find any, and to build a new one would have been too expensive. After some years, the building next door, which was owned by Brown’s, was purchased and the two buildings were remodelled to accommodate the library. The Brown family members were well-known as City leaders and generous benefactors.

I worked in the St. John Street library in the 1970s/80s and it was still not ideal, with steps to most areas, and no lift. The library moved to the former Taylor’s Garage building in Town Hall Square in 1984, and then to the multi-purpose Odeon complex in 2017, when it was renamed ‘Storyhouse’. The Taylor’s Garage building opened as Chester’s new Market on 8th November 2022 – a new shopping opportunity.

   Next, we go to Boots Cash Chemists at 24/28 Eastgate Row and 22/24 Eastgate Street. It is very confusing that the street level shops and row-level shops don’t have the same numbers.

 

 

   This picture dates from after 1897, as Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee clock is in place on the Eastgate arch. Although dated 1897, it was set in motion on her 80th birthday, 24th May 1899, at 12.45pm. Boots is on the right edge of this picture. They have moved out of this building, and now, there are several Boots shops in the city,

    Jesse Boot’s father was a herbalist, who gave medicines to the poor. He died in 1860, when Jesse was 10 years old. The business was taken over by his mother until he was in his 20s. Jesse had a breakdown and, whilst convalescing in Jersey, he met his future wife, Florence Anne Rowe, who worked in her father’s bookshop. After their marriage, they increased the number of shops, with Florence designing the interiors.

   They also expanded the range of items for sale – Stationery from 1895; Toiletries from 1896; Books from 1899 [2d. per book borrowed], and others including artists’ materials, leather and fancy goods. By 1914 they had 560 shops. Jesse was knighted in 1909, became a Baronet in 1919, and Lord Trent of Nottingham in 1929.

   He financed the University College in 1928, supported the Harlow Wood Orthopaedic Hospital, and made housing for war veterans in Nottingham and Jersey. He died in 1931. The firm went through a series of adventures, and is now part of a gigantic conglomerate Walgreen Boots Alliance with 2,500 shops in the UK and Ireland. More recently, they have tried to make their stores more attractive by launching 'Beauty Halls'.

   Jesse Boot suffered with rheumatoid conditions and the firm developed 'Brufen' an anti-inflammatory between 1953 and 1969, which we now know as Ibuprofen . By 1980 it was the no.1 treatment for Jesse's condition, but of course, sadly, it was too late to help him.

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Some of the other shops we visited were: -

Butt & Company Ltd, Diamond Merchants and Silversmiths.

The firm was established by Richard Richardson in the shop on the Rows, and was taken over by Mappin & Webb in 1968.

In the 1950s, the shops were next to Boots, at 32 Eastgate Row and 26 Eastgate St.

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    Hugo Lang took this shop in 1902, and left in 1933. Note the advert for Lang’s on the horse-tram, which was applied to the photo later. The shop took full advantage of its position on the main crossroads in the city, and provided a huge range of souvenirs for the visitors.

 

   In 1933, Walton’s the Jewellers had taken over the premises. This card shows how the corner was remodelled into a black-and-white building. The architects involved in the 19th Century transformation of the city buildings from mainly Georgian brick to faux 16th -17th century black-and-white, were T.M. Lockwood, who designed the new Cross buildings, T.M. Penson and John Douglas.

    According to one architectural historian, now, only 5% of the black-and-white buildings are from the early period, and some of those have been restored.

 

 

   St. Michael’s Arcade is another of the top shopping areas in Chester. It was completed in 1910, and tiled in white. All the shop signs and frontages are in the same design, which gives it a special look. Savile Row firm, Gieves and Hawkes, have been at Nos. 1-3 since 1966. The arcade now leads through to the Grosvenor Shopping Precinct, built in 1963-65, shown in the lower right picture.

   Some of my favourite items in my Chester shop and hotel collection are the illustrated invoices or letter-heads. They tell us so much about the firms at the time, and it is primary-source material. The firms are telling us about their businesses themselves. Here is a beautiful one by Minshull & Meeson, Eastgate Row, in the Art-Nouveau style, from 1903

   It seems that Master Little is having some items for school, including books, envelopes, pencils and set-squares. Little’s grocery shop was also in Eastgate Row.

 

 

W.C. Wright, 53 & 53 Bridge St. Row.

 

   This is a wonderful and unusually informative heading from 1904, which gives us views of the interior and exterior of Wright’s shop. It is another invoice for Mr. Little, this time for 2 gents’ shirts at 5/11d. each.

   These are just a few of the shops we visited on the Club night. Sadly, many of the those featured in the talk have disappeared from the Chester streets, but I hope that this has reminded you of some of the lovely shops we used to have.

Thanks to Marion and John for help with the cables for the projector!

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I look forward to meeting up with you on December 14th at 7pm, for Trebor’s Christmas Special. Karlyn

  

Report on the talk given to the club on October 12th 2022

 

Hope and Caergwrle.

A report of the talk by Lynne at the October meeting, from her notes.

 

    There’s a very old saying in this area, which is “ Live in Hope, Die in Caergwrle” .[ In fact the cemetery for the area is in Hope village.] The two villages are about 5 miles north of Wrexham. Lynne’s collection has been assembled over the past 35 years.

 

 This is a photo of Lynne, at home, with the magnificent display. In addition to the vast array of cards, there are many other items, including the picture on the right with the vivid blue background, which shows the beautiful Bronze-Age ‘Caergwrle Bowl’ found during diggings at the castle in 1823, and now in the Museum of Wales. Also on the table are bottles from the Caergwrle breweries Lassell & Sharman, and Piercy. Old Vellum documents of Hope Farm and Plots of Land by Caergwrle Station, and an old map of area from 1832 were of special interest.

 

    Hope [‘Yr Hob’ in Welsh] is the smaller of the two villages, and there has been a church on the current site for centuries. It has been extended and altered many times. Other cards showed Hope Mountain, a favourite with walkers, having spectacular views over to Cheshire – but beware of low-flying RAF planes from Valley! The Railway Station opened in 1866, as Caergwrle station , but was renamed Hope Village in 1899. It is still a stop on the Wrexham-Bidston line, but is now automated. The Red Lion pub had a thatched roof, but has been rebuilt and now houses the CO-OP. There have been at least 5 brickworks in Hope since the 1800s, and a tilery. A card of an old metal chimney with workmen climbing up is possibly a view of Padeswood Cement Works. The main school in the area is Castle Alyn High School.

 

 

Hope Church. Vulcan Series. Published by A. Vaughan, Stationer, etc., Somerset House, Caergwrle.

 

 

Hope Village, Cemetery Road. Published by The Photochrom Co., Ltd., London and Tunbridge Wells. No.50158. Postmark 1925.

   Caergwrle  had a part to play in the wars between England and Wales. Caergwrle Castle was built by Dafydd ap Gruffyd in 1277 as agreed by Edward I of England on his invasion of Wales. Edward I made extensive improvements to Castle as a reward for not resisting invasion. However in 1282 Dafydd raised a revolt and marched on Hawarden Castle, controlled by Edward I. Dafydd’s brother Llywelyn, Prince of Wales, was then drawn into the Welsh War of Independence. Llywelyn was beheaded by Edward’s mercenaries. Dafydd then becomes Prince of Wales until his execution in 1283 by Edward. He was the last independent Ruler of Wales until Owain Glyndwr’s uprising in the 15th century

 

Caergwrle Castle. P & Co., Ld

 

  The Caergwrle Bowl, from the Middle Bronze Age, is made from Shale, Tin and Gold, and was found by a workman who was digging drains at base of Castle in 1823. It was donated to Museum of Wales.

  Caergwrle was the home of Wales International Footballer, George Godding, who played two caps for Wales in 1923.

  The Post Office is now at No.2, High Street, in the SPAR shop. It used to be in a building on the corner of Castle Street and High Street, opposite to the SPAR shop.

 

    The Castle wasn’t the only tourist hotspot in the village. It seems amazing to us now, that in the late 1800s, early 1900s, the Spa was a major attraction, and there were excursion trains bringing huge numbers of visitors in, on cheap day-return tickets, on Wednesdays and weekends. In 1913, a Clergyman wrote of the rowdy visitors: “Chapels are compelled to close their doors and windows during Sunday Services to exclude Noise, Yells, Singing of Lewd songs and Vile Language”

 

 

Pump House, Caergwrle Spa. Valentine & Sons. No.73445. Postmark, January 1920.

    The Spa was on the Rhyddyn Hall Estate, and attracted visitors from a wide area, including Liverpool and Cheshire. This postcard shows the Pump House, with the Pavilion behind it. There are 2 men in uniform sitting on the bench, and a weighing machine to the right of them. Two ladies are standing on the Pavilion terrace. The contemporary adverts tell us that the Caergwrle Natural Mineral Waters were ‘The Sovereign of all Table Waters. This saline water recommended by the Medical Faculty since the 17th century. Refreshing beverage and invaluable for gout and rheumatism’ There were plenty of entertainments on the Spa site, including Pierrot shows and a bowling green. It closed in the 1930s.

 

 

The Old Mill, Caergwrle. Valentine & Sons, Ltd., No. 53379

This is a water-powered corn-mill, sited on the River Alyn. The wheel is visible at the bottom of the picture..

  Other cards on the boards show Rhyddyn Hall, the Bridge Hotel, the Temperance Tearooms, Queen’s Café and the School, all a stone’s throw from the Station. There were also some comic cards mentioning the villages.

 

 

Lucky Find:- Bridge End.

  Lynne found this lovely card at the Preston Fair, in a dealer’s ‘Unidentified’ box. It shows The Bridge Hotel, and was posted from Jersey in 1964, to an address in Glasgow. The card is in the ‘Gwenfro’ Series, which is listed in our ‘Local Publishers’ list. All the views in that series that have been noted are of places in the Wrexham area, but we don’t yet know where the firm was based. All the cards noted are postmarked between 1905 and 1915.The view was identified as Caergwrle.

Thank you, Lynne. You must have spent a lot of time on the displays, and gathering the information about these old villages, and I know that everyone enjoyed your presentation.

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Report on the talk given to the club on September 14th 2022

 

   During our 2-minute-talk evening in July, John Lawson Reay took us to Portmeirion and Snowdon Summit, for his ‘Favourite place for a day out’. We learnt that the Snowdon summit building of the 1930s was designed by Clough Williams Ellis, Portmeirion’s creator. The summit cafe was designed to be a very sturdy building, necessary to withstand the storms and bad weather at 3,560 ft. However the original large windows could not cope with the strong winds, and were damaged. The architect revised the design to incorporate smaller windows on the front, with no windows on the side we can see in these photos, and it was refurbished in the 1980s. Prince Charles, now King Charles, made some very derogatory remarks about the building when it became run-down towards the end of its life. Clough himself was not happy with it then either. In 1992 it was decided to launch a competition to find a new design for the summit building and it was won by Ray Hole Architects of Croydon. Demolition of the old building began in September 2006, and Hafod Eryri opened in 2009.

 

 

Judges Ltd card no.22094 Snowdon Summit.

 

 

PT24414 The Summit Hotel, Snowdon.

 

  The main event of the Club night was Lawrence’s talk, and we never know what the subject/s will be until he begins. This time he has gone even further with his unusual and often bizarre topics. His displays included Brooke Bond Tea vehicles, unusual post-carrying vehicles, a mobile art gallery in a modified bus, and invalid carriages. Needless to say, he must spend hours trawling the internet and dealers’ boxes at fairs, as the cards he collects will not have their own special sections, but this is Lawrence, and we always expect the unexpected!

  He began with a reference to another of his talks, by showing a card of a Venetian hearse-boat.

   The Brooke Bond Tea vehicles were an excellent way of advertising the brand. It was begun by Arthur Brooke, 1845-1918, of Ashton-under-Lyne. He opened his first tea shop in Manchester in 1869, and several others followed. He adopted the Brooke Bond & Co. name as it gave his customers his guarantee or his ‘bond’, to supply top quality tea. 

  His eldest son Gerald, 1881-1969, continued the business after his death in 1918 and a factory was built in Trafford Park. The PG Tips brand [1930] used the memorable chimpanzee adverts on tv from 1956. The collectable ‘tea cards’, which could be found in the packets 1954-1999, were very popular, especially with children. In 1968, the firm merged with Liebig meats, which held such well-known brands as Oxo and Fray Bentos. In 1983/4 it became part of the Unilever group.

 

 

Lilywhite card, Brighouse. Market Place, Wetherby, Yorkshire, showing the red Brooke Bond vehicle.

 

   Trams in various parts of the country had extra duties as freight carriers – the Blackpool-Fleetwood service took coal, and in Cornwall, the trams took tin. Some trams and trolleybuses also took post and parcels. In some areas, goods trains ran on the tramlines. The Cruden Bay Hotel, on the coast, north of Aberdeen, ran a tramway between the station and the hotel 1899-1940. When the line finished, the 2 trams were converted into summer houses. The Dresden Volkswagen plant used trams to transport items around the area. In Zurich, trams had a trailer which was left at various locations to be filled with recycling. The trailers would be collected at a later date.

 

    In Scotland, a Travelling Art Gallery was housed in a former bus, which had been adapted for the job, with a translucent roof and light interiors.

 

The Scottish Arts Council Travelling Gallery, 1978.

 

    Lawrence ended the display with a tribute to a friend, William McConnachie, who was disabled. He showed a selection of cards of invalid cars and carriages. Some were powered by pedals, others by donkeys and the latest by electricity.

 

 

 

E.T.W. Dennis & Sons Ltd. Card B.1922.L

Newport Street, Bolton, showing a white invalid carriage, lower right corner – 137AWK

 

Thank you, Lawrence, for another trip into your wonderfully zany world!

We look forward to another visit next year.

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 Report on the talk given to the club on August 10th 2022

 

The Annual 1-sheet Competition. The August meeting is when we hold our 1-sheet comptition, which provides a display for the fair. Entries can be of any subject or place and the winner is decided ina secret ballot those present. This year’s winner was Bill, who had selected this superb picture of a stand at an gricultural Show in Mold.

 

 We believe that this picture is of the Denbighshire and Flintshire Agriculturalociety’s Show c 1911

 

   The Society was formed at the Black Lion Hotel, Mold on 24th July, 1839, and its aim was to “promote agriculture and encourage industry”. It brought together some of the smaller societies in the 2 counties, and in 1842, part of Merionethshire was added. The show was held in various places in North Wales, but since 1990, it has been at The Green, Denbigh, in August, with a Countryside Day at Greenfield Valley Heritage Park during May. https://www.denbighandflintshow.com/about-us/history/

  The picture shows stand 36, that of Samuel Hughes, Trosymynydd, Northop. The sign across the top of the stand tells us that he was the ‘sole agent for the latest success of the Alfa Laval Separator.’ This was a centrifugal separator for liquids such as milk and cream, to make skimmed milk. They consist of a drum on a stand, and a handle which creates the centrifuge. The cream comes out of one pipe and the milk another. They were advertised as so easy to operate that a child could use them. Alfa Laval was founded in 1883 in Sweden. The company is still in business, but has diversified into many other products, in many countries.

  On the left is another sign which reveals that in 1910, the Royal Agricultural Society of England awarded a medal to Alfa Laval for the separator. Two of the machines can be seen to the left of the picture, and another propping up the ‘Stand 36’ notice. One of the popular on-line selling sites has images of early adverts and equipment for this firm.

   https://www.alfalaval.com/about-us/our-company/history-of-alfa-laval/

  The signs above and below the main ‘Samuel Hughes’ sign, are advertising equipment by Massey Harris.

  This company was founded in 1847 as Massey Manufacturing Co, Ontario, Canada. It became Massey-Harris in 1891, and in the 1950s, Massey Harris Ferguson, when it merged with the UK’s Ferguson Co.

  It was bought by AGCO in 1994, but still retains the Massey Ferguson name, which is one of the most well-known brands of agricultural equipment in the world.

  https://www.masseyferguson.com › en_us › discover-mf

  Congratulations, Bill!

 

A photo by John Lawson Reay, of Marion presenting Bill with his ‘letterbox’ trophy.

 

 

   Other entries in the competition were:- 

   “A Warm Welcome to Wales”. 3 modern coloured cards published by British Rail Publications, ‘Beautiful Wales’ Series. The cards feature Snowdon, The Conway Valley and ‘Cymru am Byth’ [Wales Forever] with the Welsh flag, dragon, harp, lady and castles.

 

  “Wonderful Things”. A coloured card of the mask of Tutankhamun, and 5 black-and-white early postcards showing some of the contents of the tomb, discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. There is a general view of the Antechamber with a jumble of items, and then cards of individual items:- A Magnificent painted wooden box; The King’s Throne; The Second Coffin; The King and Queen’s Perfume Vase.

 

   “Fragments from France”. From May 1916, the publishers of Bystander, a weekly magazine, issued Bruce Bairnsfather’s WW1 cartoons as sepia postcards. They came in an illustrated envelope, issued monthly, at 8d per set of 6 cards. There were 9 sets, 54 postcards in all. Bairnsfather was born in 1887 and died in 1959.

  The 3 cards on the sheet are:-

    -‘The Things that Matter.’ – The Colonel is speaking on the phone whilst under fire in a trench. The caption is ”Scene: Loos, during the September offensive. Colonel Fitz-Shrapnel receives the following message from G.H.Q:- ‘Please let us know, as soon as possible, the number of tins of raspberry jam issued to you last Friday.’

   - 2 soldiers at a farm, which has been destroyed, with dead animals around them. One soldier writes.’ Dear………at present we are staying at a farm’.

  -‘The Soldier’s Dream. A “Bitter” disappointment on waking.’ A soldier is asleep and dreaming about a barmaid pouring him a beer back home.

 

  “R.A.F Shotwick, Sealand”. 3 superb rare photos of a little-known site in North East Wales. They feature:- ‘Shotwick, 30th June 1923’, showing planes on the field in front of the buildings. ‘Armstrong Whitworth Atlas Crash, 6th Jan, 1932’ a close-up of the remains of the plane. ‘Motor Transport, Shotwick, 1923’ A magnificent array of army lorries and other vehicles.

 

    “Girl Power Advertising” . 4 lovely coloured advertising cards with women as the central feature:- ‘Smoke Referee Tobacco’; ‘Price’s Buttermilk Soap for the complexion’; E.P. Shaw’s Dry Ginger Ale, The Hall Mark of Quality’; ‘Mrs Pomeroy’s Exquisite Toilet Preparations ensure Beauty and Refinement.’

 

  ‘”The Cross Word Craze of the 1920s”. 4 cards from Tuck’s very scarce ‘The Cross Word Craze’ series II’, Oilette set 3515. Each card has a crossword-square border. These artist-drawn cards show:- ‘

  The Cross Word “Special” ‘ a station platform with a train and passengers, and luggage covered in crossword squares.   ‘Cross Word Champions’ a family dressed in crossword clothes crossing a road, while the policeman stops the traffic. ‘    All at sea with the Cross Word Craze’ a capsized boat covered in crossword squares, with the survivors around it, some attempting to complete the puzzles.

‘That Cross Word Feeling’ A family dressed in crossword clothes walking along a pier, past people in deck-chairs.

 

    "Julien Mandel, 1872-1961 was a French photographer, best known for his comercial images."

   There are 4 black and white photographs on this page, one of a young child, sitting at a table. Another is of a lady holding flowers, with a ‘Bonne Annee’ [Happy New Year] sticker applied. The third card shows a romantic scene with a man standing next to a woman with a bouquet of flowers. The last card is of the head and shoulders of glamourous lady holding a rose.

  All the photos have red lip-colour, and slight pink tints applied to the cheeks of the subjects. His logo is a an ‘M’ with squared tops, incorporating a ‘J’, and surmounted by a crown. ‘Edit. J. Mandel, Paris’.

 

   “The Stamp House, North Bersted, Bognor Regis, Sussex.”

  3 cards, one of Mr. Sharpe and his dog in the garden; one of the exterior or the pub, and one showing the stamp-decorated interior. This is the story as told on the sheet. “The Rising Sun opened in 1895 with Richard Sharpe as landlord. He was a keen stamp collector. In 1882, a customer bet him that he couldn’t decorate an entire room of the pub using stamps. Mr. Sharpe took up the challenge, gluing stamps to the walls. He then started covering tables, chairs and picture-frames. People heard about him and started sending stamps. He threaded spare stamps into garlands using more than 2,000,000 stamps. The pub became known as the Stamp House. After Mr. Sharpe retired, the pub fell into disrepair. It was demolished in 1957.”

  Three cards depicting the life of Travellers over 100 years ago. [contemporary captions]

   A Tuck card “A Gypsy Encampment”, after the painting by Alfred Armitage. A caravan and a camp-fire. “Gypsies on the Common”. A caravan in the distance with a couple at a fire. “Preparing the Mid-day meal”. A wonderful image of the family on the roadside, sitting around the fire, above which hangs a kettle. The caravan is next to them, and the horse, which has been relieved of its harness, is standing nearby.

 

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  I am looking for possible speakers for 2023, so if you, or someone you know, or know of, can come to us, please let me know. I will bring the list of meeting dates with me on 14th of September.

 

 

 

Report on the talk given to the club on July 13th 2022

 

The theme for the 2-minute talks in July was ‘A favourite place for a day out’……..

Keith’s card was this superb view of Queensferry Station, Flintshire.

 

 

   When he was a young boy, the station was the starting point for the family’s days out. They had a 7-day Rover ticket, which allowed them to go to many exciting places. They would leave Queensferry Station at c9am and the train journey itself was an adventure. The favourite destination was Rhyl, with its many activities and amusements especially for children, such as the donkeys, the cycle track, skating rink and many more. The most popular places for Keith were the amusement arcades, and he enjoyed playing on the slot machines and other arcade games. The children would be tired out on the homeward journey, but they could look forward to another trip the next day.

 

Lynne’s story didn’t have a happy ending – this poster card says it all!

 

 

    Lynne and Keith had taken their new car by ferry to Jersey, and they had a wonderful week on the island. However, on the return journey,     the ship had to call in at Guernsey, and unfortunately, the sea was rough, which made Lynne very ill with sea-sickness. The journey home     seemed to take forever, and she vowed then, that next time, she would definitely ‘Prefer Jersey Airways’!

 

   Trebor’s card was a rare ‘Welsh lady’ pull-out of Penrhyn Bay.

    The seaside village is only a hop away from Craig-y-Don Community Centre, where we meet. Trebor had an extraordinary idea for a day out for us, based on the items we had displayed at the last 2-minute talk session in May. He suggested that we have a picnic in the village, and that Lindsay could bring the ginger-beer, and Keith, the whiskey. We could have tea with Lynne’s lovely crockery, John could take a photo with his spy camera, and I could read some of Dylan Thomas’s poetry. It sounds like a perfect day out to me! Thank you, Trebor for a lovely idea…let us know when you’re ready to host it…. Here is a view of the village.

 

This is an early card by Valentine of Dundee. The road looks very rough for

the cyclist and there seems to be a horse and cart further back on the road.

 

    Marion took us for a day out at a Model village.

 

    Every child who visited the Village must have been so excited to find such a wonderful tiny world. It was designed by the Dobbins               Brothers, Tom, Bill and Harry, and opened in 1956 by Sooty. {Did I hear that Trebor was there at the opening?} There was a model railway,   a castle, windmill, airport and sports stadium – over 200 models in all. Bill went on to create another village in Great Yarmouth, and Tom   designed one in Babbacombe.

  The Southport village closed in 1987 and a new Model Railway Village was opened nearby in 1995 by Jean and Raymond Jones. It was a    family business, and the models were based on local buildings, and all were constructed on the site.

 

    Roger brought two wonderful old engravings, one of which was of the South Stack bridge.

    The South Stack lighthouse is one of the must-see sites on Anglesey. This is how you would have reached it on a day out in times past.

    The picture shows the steep steps [now 400 of them] down from the cliff, and the rather flimsy ropebridge over to the island. The       retaining lines from the bridge were attached to the large rocks below.

   I have added a similar view on a card by A.W. Hutton, of Colwyn Bay, for comparison. The Huttons’ cards were produced from the 1930s to the 1960s, and this picture could be from the 1950s.

 

    The lighthouse was built in 1809, when a cable with a basket attached was used to get supplies over the c70’ drop to the sea. A box-cradle later allowed men and supplies to be lowered onto the island. Materials were also brought in by boat, to another part of the island. A rope bridge, possibly the one shown in the engraving, was also used, but they were both made redundant by the iron suspension bridge of 1828 which was inspired by Telford’s Menai Bridge of 1826. This was replaced in 1964, and the towers and chains were re-used. In 1983, the bridge was closed because it was deemed unsafe and was replaced in 1997 by a new metal bridge, this time with a roof, and the lighthouse could re-open to the public.

  The towers were Grade 2 listed in 1996, and still form part of the current bridge.

   https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300018035-bridge-towers-at-south-stack-lighthouse-trearddur#.YuFauT3MK3

 

    John’s day out was to Portmeirion and Snowdon Summit.

 

Salmon Cameracolour card No. 1-11-09-02/2430c

 

   Portmeirion was designed by Clough Williams-Ellis, 1882-1978, a visionary architect who came to live in this part of Wales. It was a very   brave idea, in 1925, to think that you could enhance the beauty of an already lovely area by building on it, but Portmeirion really is a   magical village. It takes recycling to a new level, as many of the buildings were brought in from elsewhere and rebuilt here. The village   opened on 2nd April, 1926, and it has been developing since then. The beautiful colours used on the buildings are a very important part of   the whole look of the village, and for repainting, the colours are matched to Clough’s original paints. Clough designed many types of   buildings, not just in this country, and as is usual, some were never built. In the Criccieth area, however, there are two which are well-   known. One is the sombre resting-place of David Lloyd George at Llanystumdwy, 1946, and the other is the delicious building, formerly the Moranedd café, which now houses ‘Dylan’s Restaurant’ on Criccieth foreshore. It dates from 1948 and is a glass extravaganza with two wings.

 

Photochrom No.36214 Snowdon.The Summit. P/m 7/1920.

 

 

Judges card No. 22094 Snowdon Summit.

 

   John cites another building by Clough, which was a surprise to some of us – the 1930’s restaurant and visitor centre at the Summit of   Snowdon. The previous building was the Snowdon Summit Hotel, left, which appears to be perched precariously on the very top of the   mountain. You can see a shed at the lower level, and the Train near the signals. The building in the other picture is Clough’s, in the same   position as the shed, at the end of the railway line. There is a terrace on the roof, from which visitors could admire the views on clear days. John proposed that the building may have been used for military purposes during the war, as a signal station, perhaps. It was replaced in 2009 by the new visitor centre, Hafod Eryri.

 

   Karlyn. Plas Tan-y-Bwlch.

 

This is my photo of the view along the Dwyryd Valley from the Plas terrace – fabulous location!

 

   This is my favourite place to be for a day or two. The estate goes back to the 16th Century. It was mentioned in a will of 1602. The estate   was expanded following the marriage of the Evans family heiress Catherine and Robert Griffiths. Their grandson had the house rebuilt in   c1748. The estate continued to flourish.

    In the 19th Century, William Griffith Oakeley transformed the Oakeley quarry into the largest underground quarry in the world with 1,600   men working there. The Ffestiniog railway, which carried the slate down to Porthmadog, ran through the estate. In 1872, Chester architect, John Douglas made some alterations to the house.

   In the 20th century, the estate, owned then by William Edward Oakeley, was in financial difficulties, and much of it was lost. The   remaining part came down to his children, and his daughter, Mary, the last of the family, died in 1961, age 96.

 

   The property is now administered by the Snowdonia National Park Authority, as a centre for environmental studies, a conference centre,   hotel and wedding venue. The Welsh Postal History Society has an annual long-weekend meeting at the Plas, and I very much enjoy   being in such wonderful and peaceful surroundings.

   https://snowdonia.gov.wales/visit/plas-tan-y-bwlch

 

   Lindsay has shared his research into the fascinating life of J.H. Smith, of the Bee Hotel in Abergele.

 

 

    John Henry Smith. born 1873 at Buckley, Flintshire, Wales. Parents Thomas & Jane Smith

  1881 Census John Henry Smith is with the family and is living at the Mostyn Hotel, Mostyn where Thomas is the proprietor.

  1891 Census the Family are still occupying the Mostyn Hotel but John Henry aged 18 is a boarder at St Asaph Grammar School.

  Rhyl Journal 24th February 1900. There is an article regarding Victoria Works Mineral Water Manufactory.

  In which Mr J. H. SMITH BEGS to state that the above business has just been purchased by him from Messrs Jefferson and Burd.

15th September 1900 the MARRIAGE OF MR, J. H. SMITH AND MISS. Sarah Elizabeth(Bessie) BATES takes place. Bessie is the     daughter of Mrs Bates, of the Mostyn Hotel, Rhyl. and they take up residence at Haslemere, Bath Street Grosvenor Terrace, Rhyl.

  February 1904 Preliminary Notice. Haslemere, BATH STREET, RHYL. THURSDAY, MARCH 3rd, 1904, Important and Unreserved Sale    of Superior and Costly Household Furniture and Effects.

 MR GEORGE PERKINS has been favoured with instructions from J H Smith, Esq (who is giving up private housekeeping), to Sell by   Public Auction 

 Rhyl Journal 13th August 1904.

 Abergele Petty Sessions.Transfer of the Licence of the Bee Hotel from Miss Owen to Mr J H Smith, late of Rhyl.

 

  Flintshire Observer Mining Journal and General Advertiser…

  18th July 1907 Death Of Mr Thomas Smith. The death took place at Tyn Rhyl House, Rhyl, on Tuesday, of Mr Thomas Smith, at the age    of 70 years, one of the best known wine and spirit merchants in the Principality. Mr Smith at one time held the Mostyn Hotel, Mostyn.

  Rhyl Journal November, 1907 Auction at the BEE HOTEL, ABERGELE, at 6 o'clock WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, 20th NOVEMBER,   1907. Also, at same time, the following other properties, viz. The well-known FREEHOLD Bee Hotel at Abergele, with extensive   premises  and land. The interesting Manor House of Tyn Rhyl, with few acres of building land, on main road to St. Asaph, a few minutes   from Rhyl Station. The Victoria Mineral Water and Ale and Stout Bottling Works as a going concern, very near Rhyl Station.

  North Wales Weekly News

  10 April 1908 Transfer of the licence of the Bee Hotel, Abergele from J.H. Smith to William Featherstone.

  Rhyl Journal

  19th September 1908. TAKE NOTICE that on and after this date that I, J. H. SMITH, will not be responsible for any debts incurred by

  my wife, Bessie Smith. Ty'n rhyl, Rhyl.

  Empire News & The Umpire

  24 January 1909

  J.H. Smith a gentleman of no occupation who had been in the aerated water business who resided at Tyn Rhyl granted a divorce on the   grounds of his wife's adultery with his coachman, who when J.H. Smith bought the Bee Hotel Abergele in 1904, William Carson was his   coachman, when the Hotel was sold one year ago he went to live in one of the petitioners houses, when this was let in April last year   Carson was permitted to occupy the saddle room at "Tyn Rhyl".

   Of course, Abergele is a favourite destination for a day out for many of us, now that the Stamp and Postcard Fair has moved to      the Youth and Community Centre there.  K

Thank you to everyone who made the evening so enjoyable!.

 

Report on the talk given to the club on June 8th 2022

 

WELSH ISLANDS by Marion Turner.

 

     At the June meeting Marion Turner used first day covers as well as postcards to take us on a tour of the Welsh Coast visiting islands along the way. Most of them are uninhabited. Some are just a rocky crag which is used by nesting seabirds. Some have enormous colonies of Gannets, Manx Shearwaters, Guillemots to name just a few. Most are Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Many have lighthouses which are now unmanned, being monitored by Trinity House from their control centre in Harwich Essex. They use up to date technology including solar and green energy sources. Here are tales from some of the islands we visited.

   Her collection started when she heard about Marconi’s link with Flatholm – a small island off Penarth. In 1897 with the help of George Kemp, Marconi sent the first radio signal over water. The message was sent in morse and read “Are you Ready?” Marconi continued to develop telegraphy until he could send messages around the world. Flatholm has a long history. St Cadoc visited in the late sixth century. During the eighteenth century it was a base for smuggling. Later it was used as a cholera hospital and a military base. A fog horn was added to the lighthouse in 1904.

 

 

    Worms Head off Rhossili Gower gets its name because it looks like a serpent. It consists of three islands – Inner Head, Middle Head and Outer Head. Just one mile long in total it is accessible by foot for two and a half hours each side of low water. But it could prove fatal to wade or swim across because of the disturbed waters. Dylan Thomas described it as “the very promontory of depression” after he was forced to spend a night there after being caught by the tide.

   Grassholm is an uninhabited nature reserve lying 11 miles from the coast. It has the only gannet colony in Wales with 39,000 breeding pairs. The island is thought to be the site of a castle mentioned in Mabinogi. The severed head of Brian the Blessed was kept alive there for 80 years while his companions feasted in blissful forgetfulness. Then the forbidden door to Cornwall was opened. They returned to feeling sorrow and remembered they had to bury the head at the White Mount – where the Tower of London is. Brian means Raven in Welsh – so this was the start of the need to keep ravens in the tower.

   Smalls Lighthouse stands on a rock approximately 20 miles west of Pembrokeshire. The first lighthouse was a wooden structure built in 1775 by Henry Whiteside. In 1777 when he visited the lighthouse he was stranded for a month by gales. He wrote a message to a friend in St Davids, placed it in a bottle inside a casket and threw it into the sea. Two days later it arrived near St Davids and was delivered safely. Tragedy stuck in 1801 when Thomas Howell and Thomas Griffiths were the two lighthouse keepers on duty. They did not get on well. When Griffiths became seriously ill and died Howell was so concerned he might be accused of murder he kept the body until the relief team arrived. Following this gruesome event Trinity House decided that three keepers should always be on duty together. Disaster again struck the lighthouse in 1831 when a wave hit the top of the tower breaking the floor of the lamp room injuring the keepers. The damage was repaired and the lighthouse survived another 30 years. The current lighthouse was built of stone in 1855. It was the first to be painted with red and white bands to make it more visible in daylight.

 

 

   The Welsh name for Bardsey Island is Ynys Enlli which means Island of Currents. It is an important religious site and is also known as the Island of 20,000 saints. Since St Cadfan built his monastery in 516 it has been a place of pilgrimage. The first King of Bardsey was crowned in 1796. 3 more followed all crowned by Lord Newborough. The last king was Love Pritchard. He left the island in 1925 when the last residents left the island. Bardsey Island Trust now oversee the upkeep of the island.

   Ynys Mon or Anglesey is the largest island in Wales. Scattered around the shores are many smaller islands. Off Newborough beach you will find Llanddwyn Island. It has a chapel dedicated to St Dwynwen the Welsh patron saint of lovers. Situated to the North is South Stack with its iconic lighthouse. To gain access you have to negotiate 400 steps down the cliff to a suspension bridge. Nearly 2 miles North East of Holyhead are the dangerous waters around the Skerries. There have been many wrecks in this area including the Royal Yacht Mary which sank in 1660 with the loss of 69 crew and passengers. The wreck was discovered in 1971 with treasures including gold jewellery being recovered. This led to the first lighthouse being built. It remained in private hands with the same family as keepers until Trinity House took over in 1841. Guarding the north entrance to the Menai Straits in Penmon Lighthouse. Puffin Island is nearby. It seemed a good way to end our tour as many sea birds had been mentioned but the Puffin is probably most people’s favourite bird.

 

 

   Thank you, Marion, for a remarkable presentation, which was very much enjoyed by everyone at the meeting, and for your report. K.

 

 

 

Club Bulletin, June 2022.

 

    The May meeting brought some surprises! We learnt a lot about some of our members, including one who is a whisky connoisseur….

    find out who it is later!

    Our next meeting is on Wednesday, June 8th, at 7pm, when Marion is visiting ‘The Islands of Wales’.

 

 

News.

    I’m sad to tell you that the York fair has ceased to be. I‘ve been in touch with organizer, Jack Stasiak, and he tells me that ‘declining dealer numbers, covid, old age and Brexit’, together with the huge cost of hiring the racecourse building, are the reasons behind his reluctant decision to cancel the fair. It will be a great loss to the hobby. The first of Jack Stasiak and Ron Mead’s York fairs was in 1990 and I have been fortunate to have attended most of them. It was always a highlight of my year, especially as I was able to spend time with my postcard-friends, Gill, Sue and Gwyneth for the weekend. Sadly, we lost Gwyneth some years ago. It was also an opportunity to meet up with other collector- or dealer-friends, whom I saw only at York.

    The first Provincial BIPEX, run by the Postcard Traders’ Association, was in Harrogate in 1984, with a second at York Racecourse in 1989, which was a 3-day event, Thursday to Saturday. Jack and Ron decided to organize a fair themselves at York Racecourse, from 16th to 18th March, 1990, Friday-Sunday. The event was reported as “Very successful and the attendance justifies a repeat”. One of the most popular features of the 3-day fair was the “small dealers’ bourse” on the Sunday. The fair later became a 2-day event, Friday and Saturday, and the bourse disappeared. I am hoping that another fair in York or Yorkshire may be possible in the future, as it is such a pleasure to visit that beautiful area

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 Fairs.

    The next Wirral Fair is on Saturday, June 11th . Here’s a message from the new organizers:-

   “Hello All. We are looking forward to seeing those of you attending the Postcard fair at Thornton Hough on 11th June.

Those standing are

Ralph Stuttard       Renzo Garavello

Mark Keeley          Alex Wallace

Ian Boumphrey     Dave Seddon

Mick Liversidge     Harry Hicks

Glyn Thursfield     Andrew George

Steve McGreal     John Ryan

Mike Day              Simon Collyer

 

     Our normal contact details are either 01244 880904 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..]

    The emergency number for Saturday only is 0752 8368 94

   Our next fair will be 8th October     From Madeline, Doug and Gillian (The committee ) "

 

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   The next Abergele fair is on Saturday, July 9th .

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     Our Llandudno Fair is on 20th August. We are looking for help with the Fair, so if you can come on the day, please let us know. We will be able to give more information about what may be needed, nearer the time. Thank you!

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    The next Criccieth Club meeting is on June 7 th at The Bishops Room, St. Catherine’s Church. The subject is “Anything from Europe”. For more information, contact Marion on 01766-590203 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

    The topic for our May meeting was “Bring an item from one of your non-postcard collections”. As expected, there was a good variety of objects on display.

   Lynne was first off the mark, with some examples from her lovely collection of Crown Staffordshire china, “Kowloon” pattern. It is a very delicate and pretty design, in the Chinese style, in shades of green. The firm was operating from 1889-1985.

 

 

    Keith is the whisky connoisseur, we were interested to learn. He collects all types of items relating to it, such as advertising-glasses and posters, and he prefers Irish whiskey to any other. The poster in the picture is for ‘Royal Welsh Whisky as Supplied to H.M. The Queen & H.R.H. The Prince of Wales. The Welsh Distillery Co. Ltd., Frongoch, nr Bala. The only distillery in Wales.’

  Frongoch later became a Prisoner of War camp

 

    This very large and heavy old flagon was brought in by Lindsay, who is a bottle hunter and collector. It was used by T.O. Owen, Nassau Works, Llandudno, for Old Fashioned Brewed Ginger Beer. The firm was established in 1873, and made a variety of products, including fruit syrups to add to hot, cold or aerated water. From 31st December, 1874, Mr. Owen leased land from the Mostyn Estates for 99 years, upon which he built Augusta House, the Nassau Factory, stables and outhouses. Mr.Owen died in 1936

 

    John’s life-long career as a photographer and BBC cameraman was inspired by this treasured ‘Photo Magic’ camera which had been given to him by his uncle, who had been a rear-gunner and radio operator in the R.A.F. in WW2. The smaller item is described as a ‘spy camera’, and was used to take ‘under-cover’ photographs

 

.

    I took some items from my Dylan Thomas Collection, including this advertising coaster. I am especially fond of his work. I read some notes about significant elements in his short life, 1914-53, such as his father’s occupation as an English Literature teacher, and Dylan’s daily routine in Laugharne, which was morning - sleeping; afternoon – writing; evening - drinking in Brown’s Hotel. I read a paragraph about Christmas morning from this book. The photo shows Dylan reading in a BBC studio.

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who took part – it was a most revealing and fun session.

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   To mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, I have used this card by Photochrom Co. Ltd., London & Tunbridge Wells. On the back, is printed “By arrangement with Studio Lisa, Welwyn Garden City, Herts.” It is a rather quiet study of ‘His Majesty with Princess Elizabeth’. The Queen’s father, born in 1895, was not expecting to become King, but following the abdication of his elder brother, Edward VIII, in 1936, he became George VI. Princess Elizabeth therefore became the heir to the throne. I do feel that, amongst all the Jubilee celebrations, we may forget the particularly difficult circumstances surrounding her becoming Queen in 1952.

   Princess Elizabeth, who was 25 years old at the time, was on safari in Kenya with the Duke of Edinburgh when she received the heart-breaking news that her father had died unexpectedly, but peacefully, in his sleep, on 6th February, at Sandringham. Princess Elizabeth had become Queen Elizabeth. The rest of the world tour, which was to have been to Australia and New Zealand, was cancelled. The couple arrived back in England on 7th and the Proclamation was on 8th. The funeral of George VI was on 15th, and he was buried at Windsor. It must have been such a dreadful time for all members of the Royal Family.

   The Coronation was on 2nd June, 1953, and was a wonderful occasion for her, the family and for the country. She is the only monarch to have reached a Platinum Jubilee, and we hope that she enjoys many more years as our Queen.

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Jane Matthews has sent us an item which introduces us to something new -

The ‘Flamboyant’ Empire Exhibition 1938

    Jane belongs to a postcard group where the members are given a topic which has to be illustrated by a postcard.

     The topic for this research was ‘Flamboyance’, and includes some interesting information about Liverpool.

 

 

 

Valentine & Sons Ltd., Dundee and London produced the official postcards for this Scottish Exhibition,

although there are some cards by other publishers. The writer of the message was going to the Exhibition. K.

 

   Some of you may question the degree of flamboyance demonstrated by this card. However, given the stereotype of Scottish dourness, I shall say that this is ‘flamboyant for Scotland’!

   The postcard is a night-time view of the floodlit ‘Tait Tower’ and cascades at the British Empire Exhibition held in Scotland in 1938, following the success of a previous incarnation at Wembley Park (London) in 1924 to 1925. What interests me in particular is not the beating of the drum about Empire (that makes me really uncomfortable), but the beautiful modernist buildings together with what was on show in the pavilions. Pathé news described it as ‘presenting the Empire to the Empire’, but it also threw a spotlight on Scotland and what it had to offer. During the Great Depression of the early 1930s Scotland had suffered much deprivation and, as its recovery was slower than in the rest of Britain, prominent Scottish industrialists advocated for the exhibition in order to boost trade and development. Funding came via subscriptions from private companies/individuals, government sources and those countries taking part.

    Bellahouston Park in Glasgow was the chosen site and the nearby Ibrox Stadium, home of the Rangers Football Club, was made available for associated sporting events. The various planning committees launched the project in 1936, with Cecil Weir taking the helm. He was chairman of an international leather company based in Glasgow, an able linguist and an active member of the Liberal Party who supported social and economic reform. In 1943 he would suggest to Winston Churchill’s government that a Design Council should be initiated in order to aid post-war recovery and this was created in 1944. Knighted in 1938, Sir Cecil Weir played a crucial part in business and industry in West Germany from 1946 to 1949 and on his return to the UK served as chairman of various companies.

    The chief architect appointed to the project was Thomas Smith Tait (1882-1952), originally from Paisley, and who was educated at the Glasgow School of Art and the Royal Academy. At the time he was a senior partner in Burnet, Tait and Lorne of Glasgow and London, the foremost architectural practice in the 1930s and renowned for its modernist buildings. Tait designed most of the 100 buildings on the site, assisted by younger Scottish architects while some of the national pavilions were designed by architects from those countries under Tait’s supervision. In addition to the main pavilions and halls, there were 62 representing commercial and industrial concerns.

    The Liverpool architect Herbert Rowse designed the British Government Pavilion. After studying in Liverpool Rowse took inspiration from his travels in Italy and North America, opening his own practice in his home city in 1914. Rowse worked in a variety of styles and his stunning Liverpool buildings are testament to his considerable talents. The Martin’s Bank building on Water Street, (opened in 1932) is said to be one of the finest interwar classical buildings in Britain and is described as a masterpiece. I first came across this seven storey building when I got lost in Liverpool and was intrigued as to its origins. It is built in Portland stone on a steel frame and the design is American classicism; the sculptural reliefs in the grand entrance have references to the slave trade, many banks making vast amounts of money from association with slavery and the sugar trade. The interior can certainly be described as flamboyant and the ornate banking hall has featured in the film ‘Fantastic beasts and where to find them’ and the TV series ‘Peaky Blinders’. When a German invasion was feared in 1940, much of the country’s gold was stored in the bank’s vaults in a top secret operation. In 1969 the Liverpool HQ building and 700 branches were taken over by Barclays. When that company vacated the premises in 2009 plans fell through for a luxury hotel, but it has now been bought to house hybrid workspaces and to be used by businesses and the community. Some of Rowse’s other significant Liverpool buildings include the India Buildings, the Mersey Tunnel approaches and ventilation towers and the Philharmonic Concert Hall.

   Construction on the site began in 1937, the commemoration stone being unveiled by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and the project was completed in ten months. Roadways were built to a high standard and on the various avenues were the pavilions, Engineering Hall, Industrial Hall, Concert Hall, Palace of Arts, three churches, cinema, a lake and other attractions. The United Kingdom and Scotland had their own avenues, the latter having a life-size model of a highland village. Holiday resorts had provided inspiration for facilities and Billy Butlin (of holiday camp fame) was in charge of constructing and operating the 12 acre amusement park which showcased 28 large rides and over a hundred sideshows. The luxurious Atlantic Restaurant was built and operated by the Anchor Line shipping company and it was designed as the bow and superstructure of a liner. I’m pleased to say that a restaurant is located in the original booking office of the company, named ‘The Atlantic Bar and Brasserie’ in honour of the 1938 exhibition and serving French cuisine.

    The ‘Tower of the Empire’, or ‘Tait Tower’, as shown on this postcard was the symbol of the exhibition and its image can be found on a lot of the merchandise still to be found on eBay. The Tower was 300 feet high and was the tallest building in Scotland at the time and as it was built on a hill it could be seen from 100 miles away. There were three observation decks and the view over the 170 acre site must have been spectacular, especially at night when the colourful water fountains were ‘dancing’ below. [See postcard below. K]

    The Beresford Hotel opened in 1938 in order to accommodate visitors and at seven storeys high it was said to be Glasgow’s first skyscraper. The building is a fabulous example of Art Deco architecture and during World War II it was a popular haunt for American servicemen. After being converted for office use then student accommodation, it now houses private apartments. A café, bar and event space seems to be set to open there this year.

    King George VI and Queen Elizabeth returned to open the Empire Exhibition on 3 May 1938, the ceremony being attended by 146,000 people at Ibrox Stadium. The admission charge to the exhibition was one shilling for adults and sixpence for children and over the period May to October there were nearly thirteen million visitors, although it had been hoped that many more would attend. Factors influencing lower numbers than had been predicted were the good old Scottish weather (cold, wet and windy) and the lack of international advertising due to developments in Europe prior to World War II. I like the fact that the sender of the postcard says someone they knew went to the exhibition yesterday and that they are going the next day. I bet they had a great time, despite the weather. Passenger trucks ferried 10,000 visitors per day around the site and there were 19 restaurants, and lots of milk bars and places to eat snacks. Entertainment featured classical concerts, drama, jazz and dance bands, variety shows and cinema presentations including documentaries, newsreels and cartoons. Parades and displays were scheduled throughout and competitions were held. The international football tournament was won by Glasgow’s Celtic team and they received the Empire Exhibition Trophy.

    On the last day of the exhibition (29 October 1938) a new day-record was set when 364,092 people attended. The weather did its best to dampen the excitement with a three hour downpour, but nevertheless people crowded into the attractions and onto the rides. Only the Palace of Arts remains on the site and this functions as a sports hall. Tait tower was demolished in 1939, the Palace of Engineering was dismantled and re-erected as factory space for Scottish Aviation at Prestwick, the South Africa pavilion was moved to become a staff canteen for ICI in Ayrshire and the Empire News Theatre eventually became a cinema and now the Empire Travel Lodge in Lochgilphead. Bizarrely, the highland village was shipped to San Francisco!

    How I would have loved to have visited the Empire Exhibition, as the spectacle would have had flamboyance in spades. Maybe some of the Scottish members have relatives who attended and perhaps have family photographs or memorabilia. If so, I’d love to hear about this.

Thank you, Jane. We hope to have some more items from you in the future. K.

 

 

I have added these views of the Exhibition from my Art-Deco collection. K.

The view over the site from the Tait Tower.

 

The United Kingdom Pavilion by Rowse.

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  The 13th July meeting will be another opportunity to reveal a bit more about ourselves. The ‘2-minute talk’ topic will be:- “A card showing your favourite place for a day out.”

  At 10th August meeting, we will have final arrangements for the fair, and our usual 1-sheet competition. Please join in if you can. The entries can be on any location or subject. The more variety we have, the better, as the sheets will be on display at the fair, to give visitors an idea of the range of cards available.

  Please don’t use original cards – photocopies on an A4 sheet will do just as well for this.

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Jubilee Tea Party

 

Barbara, who is a dolls’ house enthusiast, has sent this photograph of a Jubilee Tea Party, which we can all enjoy!

It is her representation of her family home when she was young, including the 2 pet tortoises. The detail is amazing.

Thank you, Barbara!

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 I hope that you can join in with the Jubilee events in your area. I look forward to seeing you on June 8th for Marion’s presentation.     Best wishes for now, Karlyn

 

Club Bulletin, May 2022.

 

    I was so disappointed not to be able to join everyone at the meeting in April, especially as I had asked John to give the talk about the Rev. William Hughes. Those members who were there found it a most interesting story. John has kindly written a summary of his talk, for those of us who missed it….see below.

    Thank you to everyone who has sent cards and messages to me, following my recent operation. They have been a great help at a difficult time.

 

Our next meeting is on Wednesday 11th May, when the topic for the 2-minute talks will be "An item from your non-postcard collections" – and we know you have them! [If you collect full-size buses, cars or military tanks, please leave them in the car-park .

What's NOT on…

. The Anglesey Antiques fair at the Mona Showground in May is Cancelled, but the October one is still on, according to the Continuity Fairs website. Contact:- 01584 873 634 / 07703 558 600 / 07802 267206 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

What IS on…

Next "Colwyn Bay" fair in Abergele - Saturday, 14th May. Contact Steve on 01745-826434 and email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Next Wirral fair, Thornton Hough - Saturday, 11th June. Contact:- Madeline Dearman - 01244 880904 email:- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Gill Jackson :- 07741-316847

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Criccieth Club. May 3rd 2 Sheet Competition We meet on the First Tuesday every month at The Bishops Room, St Catherines Church, Criccieth.

Secretary - Marion Turner 01766 590203 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

Here's a topical card for the holiday weekend, in the Valentine A Series.

It was posted in June 1960 from Aberytswyth

 

Rev. William Hughes

a summary of the talk by John Lawson-Reay.

    Rev. William Hughes was sent by the Baptist Missionary Society to Africa, to be in charge of a remote community at Bainston. Just getting there was a nearly impossible task, but the one good thing to come out of the ill-fated venture was that the Baptists managed to get an engineer to design a boat suitable for use on the Congo, which could be dismantled, packed into crates, and re-assembled in Africa. The crates and the engineer arrived, but the poor engineer succumbed to the climate. However, William and several helpers did manage to carry the crates 200 miles to Bainston and assemble the boat, and sailing it was a big improvement on hacking through the jungle.

    William’s health was failing and he pleaded to come home. Eventually he was allowed to do so and, based in Llangollen, and accompanied by Kinkasa and Nkanza (see photo) he travelled around the Baptist Chapels in Wales trying to raise funds for further missionary work in the Congo. Around this time he married his fiancee, Katy Jones.

    The Baptists were keen for the couple to set off for Africa, and it must have been a huge relief to William and Katy when they were found to be medically unfit to do so. William became Minister of Old Colwyn and Llanelian baptist Chapels, and it was hoped that he would oversee the building of an additional Chapel in Colwyn Bay. At this time he was living at the first Congo House, which was in Bay View Road, Colwyn Bay, which Katy ran as a guest house

 

    William succeeded in getting a Baptist Chapel built in Colwyn Bay, whilst continuing to raise funds for his own project; a ‘Congo House’ where African students could live and be taught useful trades, which would enable them to return home to better lives. The Congo Institute opened at Myrtle Villa, Nant-y-Glyn Road in 1890. Students were taught tailoring, shoe-making, printing, photography, and first aid. But even when 12 years old Kinkasa died, who had accompanied the missionary on his return from the Congo, it didn’t seem to occur to William that just as the heat and humidity of Africa made it ‘the white man’s grave’, so the cold and damp of Wales would send many Congo House students to their graves.

 

    William met his hero, the explorer H.M. Stanley when he came to speak at Caernarfon; and as well as offering his own patronage of the Institute, Stanley persuaded the later disgraced, King Leopold of the Belgians and the owner of the Elder Dempster Shipping Line to do likewise. This meant that all students travelled free of charge courtesy of Elder Dempster.

 

    At one point William returned briefly to Africa to set up a ‘Feeder Institute’ to supply further students.

   Over the years, many Congo students died and were buried in the little churchyard at Llanelian, William’s wife, Katy, died at the age of just thirty-three, and two of his daughters died. He did eventually remarry, but his second wife, Bessie, stayed in Colwyn Bay for just one week before returning to Ashton under Lyne, never to be heard of again!

    But William’s downfall came in the shape of a black actor, John Franklyn, who, whilst performing in Colwyn Bay, attended a Bible Class at the Congo Institute. Despite being warned about Franklyn’s criminal past, William employed him to raise desperately needed funds for the Institute - its illustrious patrons all, by this time, having been disgraced. A national newspaper report headed “Black Baptist – Brown Baby” appeared and Horatio Bottomley of John Bull magazine (similar to today’s Private Eye), named Franklyn as the father of the baby, born to a Colwyn Bay girl. Further, Bottomley alleged financial impropriety by William.

    Despite his precarious financial state – by this time he had written many cheques knowing he had no funds to cover them, William sued Bottomley, but inevitably lost. Congo House and its contents were auctioned.

   William’s sister-in-law took him in, but when he turned to alcohol (who could blame him?!) and his son Stanley, who was a successful professional footballer, failed to honour his offer of financial help, she couldn’t afford to keep William any longer; and tragically he ended his days in Conway Workhouse. He was buried – and remains with Kinkasa and many other Congo Institute students in Llanelian Churchyard, although the church no longer exists.

 

'    Ripples from Colwyn Bay' - William Hughes' lasting legacy. One of his students Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu returned to South Africa where he established the first black university in South Africa. One of his students was Nelson Mandela who later declared that "Fort Hare and Professor J.D.D.T. Jabavu are virtually synonymous". So through his students and his students' students, his influence lives on. Just before he shuffled off into penury and obscurity William Hughes begged of old friends and supporters, and perhaps of us to-day: 'Please do not forget to remember me.' On the back cover of the book I have a photograph which I took of the gravestone of his first two boys. As I was about to take it a Robin flew down and posed on the memorial stone. I am sure he was there to guard the boys.

 

 

    This is the cover of the book written by Christopher Draper and John, and I have been reading it over the past weeks. I find the story so very sad, as the Rev. Hughes genuinely wanted to help African communities, with no thought of gain for himself, and it ended badly for so many people. Thank you, John, for shining a light on this tragedy for us. K

The book was published in 2012 by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, and the isbn is:- 978-1-84527-400-9

 

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“Finding Mr. Gooby” – Jane Matthews’ account of her investigations into the message

on the Elmer Keene Llandudno Lifeboat card featured last month.

 

    The card’s message is written upside down, which may be an attempt to make it less easily read by the postman. It reads: ‘Dear Mr Gooby, Thanks for letter received. Sorry not to have answered before, but have been so busy. Pleased to hear you had a good time at the J. (or T.) O.M. I suppose you have quite settled down to work again. Kind regards, M.Breeze.’ It was posted in Llandudno on 15 July 1907.

 

    At first I thought it was a message from a holidaymaker to someone back at work in London, but it seemed odd to have given the excuse of being too busy if on holiday. I therefore started to think that Mr Gooby had been to Llandudno on holiday and this was a card from someone he met there and had subsequently written to. Mr Gooby’s initials are ‘AW’ and his address is ‘74 Packington Road, Acton, London’. Although the name Gooby is not common, it’s strange enough for mistakes to be made by enumerators and a quick search revealed nothing.

 

   To narrow down the search I tried using ‘Albert William’ then ‘Alfred William’ and I experimented with 1887 +/- 10 years for date of birth and…success! Albert William Gooby was born on 8 October 1882 to parents Walter and Mary. On the 1891 census Walter is listed as a ‘Horsekeeper’, which makes sense, as he was an agricultural labourer in 1881. The family is living at Packington Road in Acton. In 1901 there is more than one family at each number in Packington Road, so also at number 74 is Emily Bayley, a widow of 63 who is on Parish Relief, which would have been an alternative to the workhouse. There are many laundry workers living in the street and they all appear to be working from home; apparently this was common in the South Acton area. Albert Gooby is 18 and a railway clerk, a job he has been doing since the age of 14.

    If my theory about Albert having visited Llandudno was correct, then he could have been mentioned in the Visitor lists. Sure enough, there he was, but in July 1906 when he stayed at ‘Sundorne’ in nearby Colwyn Bay. Either he visited after that, or the mysterious M Breeze took a very long time to answer his letter! I haven’t been able to find anything else connecting the two people.

    Albert married Winifred Farmer (whose father was…a farmer) in Longford, Derbyshire on 19 October 1910 and in 1911 they were living at 11 Rosebank Avenue in Harrow, Albert still being a railway clerk. In February 1916, at the age of 33, Albert was conscripted into the Royal Engineers (Railway and Canal Troops) as part of the British Expeditionary Force sent to France. He was Acting Lance Corporal when he was transferred to the Reserve after examination in Boulogne in September 1919 and in 1922 he received the Victory Medal.

 

      In 1939 Albert and Winifred were living with their 27 year old daughter Joyce Mary at 14 Dalkeith Avenue in Harpenden, Hertfordshire and Albert was still in the same occupation. Joyce was a shorthand typist at the Ministry of Agriculture.