Postcard of the Month: June 2022

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The Amberley Prize Band

This card was posted in Arundel in July 1907 to Miss B. Lee, The Vicarage, Bury, Pulborough. The text is "Dear B....... with Love G.L.G.".

I have a series of postcards to Bertha Lee spanning the early 1900s. Most of these are scenes in Bury or other sites in Sussex. In this case she may have known some of the band members, who would have performed at local events.

Research into the subject revealed many examples of local brass bands at this time. Specifically the West Sussex County Council Great War Project yielded an Amberley band member John (Jack) Philby, whose entry included a number of pictures of him and other band members (Ralph and Reginald Henry Jackson) who joined up and were sadly casualties. One of the pictures is of the band but in a different year from mine (1909?), and Jack is identifiable in both examples. Other band members are believed to be Charlie Hammond, Bob, Jack and Fred Philby, Dave and Harry Dinnage, Harry Smith and Harry West.

The bandmaster is named in a press report as David Dinnage snr. and he is seated in the centre of this postcard, holding a baton. John (Jack) Philby is front, bottom left. The bandmaster's son, also David, is known as a publisher of several early postcards of the area, including some of Bury. Another copy of this picture, described in the WSCC Records, is titled Amberley Prize Band 1907 followed by "D.D.", suggesting that the photographer was probably David Dinnage junior.

Help with any other identities known for this picture would be welcome via the contact page.

Postcard of the Month: May 2022

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Aircraft Trials on Clymping Beach

This photograph, probably of a postcard, shows an early aircraft upturned on the beach at low tide. This is one of a series of pictures, possibly by White, showing various incidents during the trials carried out in 1910 with a powered flying machine designed by Jose Weiss of Houghton (1859-1919). He was a well-known landscape painter of the time who also designed and built gliders. One of his gliders achieved the first significant flight in the UK from Amberley Mount in 1909. For more on this event see our Houghton video.

The trials at Clymping were less successful, although elements of Wiess’ designs were incorporated in other early aircraft which did fly.

The photo was taken by an unknown photographer, sourced from an online auction.

Postcard of the Month: April 2022

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Chichester Canal, early 1900s

This postcard shows the canal terminus, Southgate basin, in the background with the old ornate gas works behind. These were demolished in 1962 having gone out of use four years before. In the foreground, the horse is standing on one of the abutments of the former Padwick swing bridge. Although this is not in the Arun Valley, there is a connection as the canal did form part of the London to Portsmouth Waterway, in common with the River Arun and the Wey & Arun Canal.

For more postcards of the Chichester Canal, click here

This year the Chichester Canal celebrates its 200th anniversary, and the Canal trust is organising a number of events to mark this. Further details can be seen at www.chichestercanal.org.uk.

Postcard of the Month: March 2022

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Prince Eddie outside Littlehampton Harbour - 1905

This wooden steamship was screw driven and was the only steam vessel built in Littlehampton by the Harvey’s shipyard. Prince Eddie was launched in 1904 and operated by a New Zealander, Captain Holden. She had a very short career here and departed in late 1905. The card’s publisher is not known.

Click here for more about Prince Eddie.

Postcard of the Month: February 2022

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Littlehampton trip boats at Houghton Bridge

Postcards of these craft loading or departing Littlehampton were common during the 1920s and 1930s when most visitors to the town seem to have indulged in this activity. However, pictures of them at their destination are unusual. This card by an unidentified publisher shows three craft, the Nancy Lee, Lady Nancy and Britannia near the Bridge Inn. There is no date or text but it’s likely to be from the 1920s.

A carousel is visible in the background, possibly part of a travelling fair, so maybe this is the reason for the boat trip.

Please go to Littlehampton in Locations for more on Britannia and the Other Trip Boats page for more information. on the Nancy fleet.

Postcard of the Month: January 2022

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Posted in SW London on September 25th 1907 and addressed to Mr. Geo. Holloway, 42 Waldemar Avenue, Fulham, the card appears to have been written by more than one person. The comment ‘Fulham, dolefully, “Great Grimsby, what a life”’ may have referred to a recent defeat. The teasing continued with a mocked-up league table predicting Fulham’s dire position at the send of the season!

What connects Lower Street Pulborough with Fulham? In the case of this postcard it is enthusiasm for football.

The card was published in the ‘Wrench’ series by a national company, founded by Mr. Evelyn Wrench, which produced upwards of 10,000 different cards between 1902 and 1906 when the company failed (ref. Picture Postcards and their Publishers by Anthony Byatt, 1978). The photograph was therefore taken prior to 1906.

Postcard of the Month: December 2021

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Christmas greetings by postcard: Arundel Castle and Bridge

The use of postcards for Christmas greetings was not uncommon during the early 1900s and this is an early printed and coloured example by an unknown publisher. We know the photo was taken before 1902, as the shop on the left was still owned by Gregory the bootmaker who left in that year. There are two date stamps, for Arundel and Dunmow in Essex, both December 1904. There is no postage stamp, but a ‘1d’ printed figure indicates that this was the amount due on delivery, presumably added with the second date stamp. Hopefully the senders did not omit stamps on all their greetings! The senders were Capt. & Mrs. Skeet of Crossbush, near Arundel, and the recipients were Rev. & Mrs. Maryon-Wilson of Great Canford Rectory, Essex. Captain Skeet was Francis Skeet who lived in Crossbush House at the time, a war hero from the Crimea and subsequently the author of a history of Angmering, where he eventually lived. The Reverend George Maryon-Wilson (1834-1906) was the son of Sir John Maryon-Wilson (1802-1876) the 9th Baronet in his line, and a prominent landowner of the time.

This view of Arundel has been the subject of many postcards since then, documenting the changes to the bridge and shops with the Castle always prominent in the background.

Postcard of the Month: November 2021

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This Frank Spry photograph, collected by Eric Benham, shows the Stralsund of Hamburg delivering timber to Littlehampton. The Harbourmaster’s Journal records this vessel arriving June 30th 1930, so this is probably on that date.

The Photograph shows the small German coaster midway in development between a sailing vessel and a motorship, with three masts but not much sail. The mainmast is also fitted with with derricks for unloading. She has a raised forecastle and poop and is carrying a significant deck cargo of timber, probably for the reconstruction of the harbour walls and the parade which is clearly almost completed. Note the steam crane on the west works on a temporary set of rails.

The second picture (another Spry view from the same source, again unused) shows the Stralsund further up the harbour preparing to moor, one line already out to the harbour launch. Some interesting details include the timber awaiting use and several small craft manoeuvring in the channel plus a set of sheerlegs on a barge to aid unloading and handling.

Postcard of the Month: October 2021

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The Wharf, Littlehampton, from the Eric Benham collection, shows a busy scene at the Railway Wharf (above the swing bridge), probably photographed just after the end of WW1. SS Pansy is moored to the left, showing some of her ‘dazzle’ painted hull designed to mislead watchers as to her course and speed, and part of an anti-submarine defence system. In the centre are some of the steam cranes used at that time, one of which may have been relocated from Houghton Wharf to speed operations here. The railway wagons in the foreground show how close they came to the vessels. More ships and the ends of some of the dockside storage buildings are visible in the background.

The publisher of this card is not known, although it looks and feels like a Spry postcard.

Postcard of the Month: September 2021

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Outward Bound from Littlehampton, from the Eric Benham collection, shows steam tug Jumna towing a three masted schooner which is high out of the water, so probably in ballast. Her name and port of registry is not readable, but the build style suggests a Scandinavian craft, possibly from Denmark. The date is unknown but it’s probably pre WW1.

The vessel has some fore and aft sails set to take advantage of the westerly wind and to supplement the tow. The small craft towing behind may be catching a lift out of the harbour if the tide is flooding against them, as seems likely.

The postcard was published by William Wareham. The title was used several times by Wareham and others.

Postcard of the Month: August 2021

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This view of Houghton Bridge shows the backwater linking the main course of the Arun with the side arm where one of the wharves serving the chalk pits was situated (see the old O.S. map below for detail). Both the side arm and the backwater are now heavily silted and overgrown so as to be unusable. The larger vessel in the background shows the characteristic lines of a Dutch barge, double ended with a marked ‘tumble home’ above the side strake of the hull. It appears to be a conversion to a liveaboard, although retaining its single mast. Several postcards in my collection show similar craft on the river at Arundel and Littlehampton. While difficult to confirm that they are the same as this one, it is likely that such visitors to the area were not uncommon.

The smaller craft in the foreground, Dreadnought, has the mainsail rigged as if it has just completed a sail on the river.

The card shown, At Houghton Bridge, by F. Douglas Miller, comes from his Sussex Series. Miller was a renowned publisher from Haywards Heath. This is typical of his style, with the handwritten title bottom left and his embossed details bottom right. It is unused, and the date of printing is probably between 1914 and 1917 when he ceased using embossing. The photograph is therefore pre WW1.

A later postcard using the same photograph appears to have been issued by Charles Edward Bex of Worthing, with a block printed legend, At Houghton Bridge 426, at bottom right. The message on that card mentioned “sleeping in a little houseboat just by bank here on this water”. It was posted at Houghton Bridge in 1923, and sent by “Daddy” to Master H.C. Tuffill in Broadstairs.

 

Postcard of the Month: July 2021

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Stopham Bridge

This card features a painting of Stopham Bridge. The White Hart Inn, close to the picturesque bridge, was a popular destination for small craft on the Arun. The card was published by A. Vivian Mansell & Co. Ltd of London, and posted in Billingshurst in 1943 by an unknown sender. It was addressed to Mr. & Miss. Procter in Brockley.

The back of the card is quite distinctive, using biblical quotes for the text accompanying the little pen sketches.

More information about the area can be found in our Pullborough video.

Postcard of the Month: June 2021

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HC Christensen of Marstal

This unposted Spry picture shows HC Christensen of Marstal (from the Danish island of Ærø in the Baltic Sea) in 1925. She is departing Littlehampton Harbour in ballast, as can be seen from how high in the water she is riding. By this time, towage of departing sailing vessels was done by one or more of the resident trip boats, probably a Britannia in this photograph. Some other small vessels are involved, including the white hulled pilot boat running alongside, and another small craft for rope handling and recovery.

After WW1, sailing ships of this size were a rarer sight than before, as the war had claimed large numbers of the vulnerable craft.

Further information about HC Christensen can be found in the Sailing Vessels section on this site.


Postcard of the Month: May 2021

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Arundel Park 1907

This card shows a parade of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the East Kent Regiment somewhere in Arundel Park in 1907, which was a regular venue for military camps and for other organisations, such as the YMCA. Notice the range of ages, presumably a mix of new recruits and ex-servicemen. The publisher was Mezzotint of Brighton, recognisable from their characteristic design under the heading on the back of the card.

The text is unusual as it is written in semaphore, no doubt demonstrating one of the skills practised at the camp. It was sent to Miss Parker, High Street, Cranbrook, Kent. We might have expected some coded endearment but instead it translates as: "Just one at last. Yours, Charlie!”.

Our Burpham video features another glimpse of military training manoeuvres in the area.

Postcard of the Month: April 2021

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An atmospheric postcard by Frank Spry, from between 1908 and 1914, showing a nicely detailed close-up of the paddle tug Jumna on the left at its mooring, with an array of visiting ships in the background. Moored alongside Jumna is the brig Vera of Brantevik, a small coastal town in Sweden.

Among the posing crew members from Jumna, the one seen on board may be the master, John Belchamber while the gentleman on the jetty is probably the harbour pilot William Henry Collins.

Further information on Jumna, Vera and many other craft can be found it the Vessels section of this website.

If you have any stories about this, or any other, card featured on The Arun Valley Postcard Trail, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Postcard of the Month: March 2021

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Angmering Station

Here’s an early postcard by J. White and Son of Littlehampton. The feature of note is the relatively rare postmark of Angmering Station, used during the early 1900s. William Arthur Jenkins sent this card to his parents, and refers to seeing the Baltic Fleet at sea. He mentions the ‘North Sea Outrage’ which almost caused war with Russia in 1904.

More information relating to Angmering station can be found here.

If you have any stories about this, or any other, card featured on The Arun Valley Postcard Trail, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Mystery Black Rabbit photograph...

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This is from an unknown publisher and the view has been enhanced, as the actual card was very faded. It shows a large group of people posed on the river bank in front of the pub. There are at least one hundred and seventy five individuals, predominantly female with about twenty males and a few children. 

It was posted in Maida Hill, London on July 1st 1907, sent to Miss N. Robson, 32 Simpson St, Newcastle on Tyne. 

The message: "This is the place near to Arundel Castle which I mentioned. Pretty spot fine boating etc. Hope you enjoyed yourself at home. Love to all, Yours (Asroz ?)." 

This gives little clue as to the nature of the event, so it remains a mystery.