Thursday 26 February 2015

Local Postcards - 3

Many thanks to Ritchie Dinnes for letting me use two of the postcards in his collection.

This one, taken from the rocks to the southwest of Ardnamurchan Point lighthouse, shows a pedestal in the foreground, which I take to be the old sundial.  There's no date on the postcard - has anyone any idea of when it was taken?

This one, taken a couple of years ago, isn't from quite the same angle but does show the changes.  The pedestal has gone, the Principal's house (left), the air and water tanks, and the small storage building have been added.  There are also many fewer chimneys on the keepers' cottages.

This postcard shows the SV Ardnamurchan.  Built in 1890 by Russell & Co of Port Glasgow, she had a length of a 259ft and a beam of 38ft.  The steel sailing ship was built for Hugh Hogarth of Ardrossan, later sold on through two more owners, and finally broken up in 1926.  There are more details here.

Many thanks to Ritchie for the pictures.

2 comments:

  1. I have received this comment, for which many thanks: "I'm not sure of the date, but this could be quite an early postcard. When the Post Office allowed the sending of postcards (after, I think, 1892 though the exact year escapes me) they ruled that only the address could be written on the back. Thus cards were produced with a space on the front for messages. By the early 20th century both address and message could be written on the back, allowing for a larger picture on the front. If I can find the exact years I'll let you know."

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  2. Further to the previous comment, "Picture postcards were allowed in the UK from 1894, and the regulations changed in 1902 to allow message and address to be written on the same side.

    "See http://postcard.co.uk/postcard_history.php"

    Many thanks.

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