Friday 17 October 2014

Newport Road, the Unknown Warrior’s Grave in Westminster Abbey and a picture postcard sent in the April of 1952

Now I am the first to admit the quality of the image is a tad iffy but we are dealing with a picture postcard which is over 60 years old.

It comes from the collection of David Harrop and is another one of those pictures which bring little bits of stories together.

The card was sent on April 14 1952 and ‘S’ thought that Sam “would like this card” which is of the Unknown Warrior’s Grave in Westminster Abbey.

Given the we are now deep into the centenary of the Great War the card has a resonance and would have done so back in 1952 when both the First and Second World Wars were still recent history.

I have no way of knowing why S thought Sam would find like the card but there maybe a clue in the address.

Sam lived at 127 Newport Road and with a bit of digging we should be able to find out a little bit more about him and a possible connection with that war.

As for the picture postcard the  reference number from the front of the card dates it to 1930 when it was registered in the company catalogue and this may also be the year the photograph was taken.

It is a Valentine postcard marketed by Valentine & Sons Ltd of Dundee and London and courtesy of St Andrew’s University Library I have a catalogue which links the reference number to the year of issue.

So perhaps not an earth shattering story but one which I like and in the fullness of time will reveal more.

Picture; Unknown Warrior’s Grave in Westminster Abbey, circa 1950, from the collection of David Harrop

No comments:

Post a Comment