Chertsey, Surrey, Guildford Street c1907

Chertsey, Surrey, Guildford Street circa 1907. Postcard by Richard Young of Teddington. Click the postcard to enlarge.

Horsell Schools, Woking, Surrey, c1913

Horsell Schools, Woking, Surrey, circa 1913. The school is now called Horsell Village School and was built in 1851. Postcard by W. H. Applebee. Click on the postcard to enlarge.

Horton Road, Berkshire, c1910

Horton Road, circa 1910. Horton is a village in Berkshire. It is between Windsor and Staines-upon-Thames. The poet John Milton lived there between 1632 and 1640. Postcard by Young & Co of Teddington. Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Wandsworth, South West London, Melody Road 1906

Wandsworth, South West London, Melody Road 1906. Postcard by Richard Young. I think the building on the left was a post office.
Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Ashford, Middlesex, National Schools 1908

Ashford, Middlesex, National Schools 1908. It is interesting that an idyllic scene such as this can sometimes conceal a nasty secret. The postcard below (post dated 1908 on the back) shows the National Schools in Ashford, Middlesex (Ashford is now in the county of Surrey). The school was erected in 1868 and as you can see from the Google Street View, it still survives today as the Ashford Church of England Primary School. It has been enlarged but the original buildings survive. The postcard shows a group of girls on the left and boys on the right. On the left of the girls is a woman, probably a teacher. Behind the girls is a man. He may well be the schoolmaster, Cyril Neaves. Neaves was convicted in September 1909 of a vicious beating of a pupil at the school and was fined five pounds - quite a lot of money back then. The story was reported nationally and was even discussed in the Houses of Parliament (NB, the Hansard website OCR has got Neaves' name wrong). The Sheffield Evening Telegraph for 7th September 1909 reported the case as follows:

SCHOOLMASTER FINED
Heavy Penalty on Charge of Assault.
A Boy's Punishment.
For an alleged assault on Albert Darling, aged 10, one of his pupils, Cyril Neaves, the headmaster of Ashford (Middlesex) National Schools was fined £5 yesterday.
According to the evidence the headmaster, on August 30th, placed the boy over a desk, where he was held by an assistant master, and thrashed him with a cane until it broke in two.
The boy, who lives at Park Road, Ashford, told the Bench that the headmaster asked him to bring his drawing, and, after looking at it, said: "Stand aside and I will deal with you in a minute." He was flogged for about five minutes. He cried from the pain, and when he sat down the headmaster said, "I'll give you some more if you don't sit still."
Mrs Darling said that her son was covered with bruises, and his flesh was red and inflamed, "almost like jelly". She counted thirteen marks on his body. She had complained to the headmaster before about thrashing the boy, and he then said that he would serve him the same tomorrow if he would not do his work.
The defendant denied, in his evidence, that he struck the boy more than four times. When he called him out he loitered, shuffled his feet, and muttered under his breath. The witness gave him two strokes of the cane, and as he muttered again he gave him two more.
The bench unanimously decided to impose the maximum penalty.

It is possible that Neaves is the man in the photo and that poor Albert Darling may be one of the boys. A sorry tale.
Postcard by Young & Co of Teddington. Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Aldgate Pump, City of London c1912

Aldgate Pump, City of London circa 1912. This old postcard by an uncredited publisher shows the famous Aldgate Pump at the corner of Fenchurch Street (on the left) and Leadenhall Street (on the right). The postcard view shows St. Katherine Cree church, built c1638, one of the few City churches to survive the Great Fire in 1666. The church is still there but is difficult to see in the Street View image. If you move the Google Street View one step to the left you get a better likeness to the postcard, but the pump is completely obscured by a street sign. Leadenhall Street also contains the London Metal Exchange, Europe's last remaining open outcry financial exchange. Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Hampton Hill, Middlesex, The High Street 1907

Hampton Hill, Middlesex, The High Street 1907. The Crown and Anchor pub on the left is now a restaurant called La Familia. The building to the left of that has been demolished. The buildings on the right remain largely intact though. This card was published by Young & Co of Teddington and was posted in April 1907. Judging by the lack of leaves on the tree in the distance the photograph would have been taken a month or two before. Young has incorrectly captioned the postcard as Hampton High Street, but that street is half a mile away, this is clearly Hampton Hill High Street. Young should have known that as he lived nearby. Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Norton, Gloucestershire, Norton Cash Stores in 1911

Norton, Gloucestershire, Norton Cash Stores in 1911. Norton is a hamlet north of the city of Gloucester. The village shop was run by Esther Hughes. That is probably her on the right, holding the baby. To the left of her may be her assistant in the shop, Elizabeth Whiting. According to the 1911 census the pair lived in the building, with the baby, Norah Mary Perry. I don't know why they lived with a baby with a different surname, perhaps an orphaned niece? A notice in the shop advertises a 'rummage sale' on Wednesday the 7th of June which helps me date the photograph accurately to 1911.
I am indebted to Mike Dill, Steve Maidment and the Village of Norton Website for the following information about the shop and 'The Elms' shown below. The building - Tess Hughes's shop, "was a cottage at right angles to the road opposite the top of Wainlodes Lane".  It was destroyed by fire early in the morning of November 2nd 1935.  "Tess herself was not much harmed.  She had a distrust of banks and kept most of her money in buckets that hung from the beams.  The place after the fire was littered with coins."  ('How it All happened' by Canon Evans-Prosser, Vicar of Norton).
The modern bungalow you can see in the modern Google Street View now stands just behind the approximate site of the shop.
Also notable is the horse bus operated by George Symonds of Gloucester. It appears to be a very primitive bus, even by the standards of 1911. It had a very short run between the nearby villages of Lonford, Twigworth and Norton. One has to wonder how often the bus ran and how successful the service was. I think the young man standing to the right of the horses was the bus conductor. This postcard was published by Young & Co of Teddington. Click the postcard and blow-ups to enlarge.

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This is another postcard by Young & Co of Teddington showing a large farmhouse in Norton, called 'The Elms'. Prior to 1897 it was called 'Norton Farm' and reverted back to that name in 1923 (source: Steve Maidment - 'Norton Farm'). The farmhouse has not changed much in the last century, but one of the chimneys appears to have slid down the roof. Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Cam Pitch, Cam, Gloucestershire, 1910

Cam Pitch, Cam, Gloucestershire, 1910. Cam is a village in Gloucestershire close to the town of Dursley. The bucolic view on the postcard has changed in the last century. The image shown below the postcard, from the Dursley and Cam Society's website shows the building on the right of the postcard shortly before demolition.
Postcard by Young & Co of Teddington, Middlesex. Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Ripley, Surrey, 1913 & The Strange Obliteration of Ruth Hill

Ripley, Surrey, 1913. These postcards, all photographed and published by W. H. Applebee of Ashford, Middlesex in 1913 show various views of Ripley, a village near Woking. If we study the first image, Ripley Court WHA 6, we can clearly see a young lady. She has been identified as Ruth Lydia Hill, born 1898, granddaughter of Alfred Hill, a 'bootmaker, clothing and draper'. A later version of the same postcard, Ripley Court WHA 3946 shows the same image, but poor Ruth has been crudely obliterated by the photographer, scratching her out of the negative.
The next image, Rose Lane Ripley WHA 4 shows Ruth on her bicycle next to a boy. Again, a later version of this postcard, Rose Lane Ripley WHA 3944 shows her to have been obliterated from the negative. The boy is still there.
Another image, Fire Station, Ripley, WHA 7 shows Ruth again. Though I do not possess it, there is surely a later version of this image in the 394x series showing the same view with Ruth having been obliterated.
Finally, an image of Rose Cottage (WHA3948) with a tell-tale obliterated person. I do not possess the original, but I am keeping an eye out for it, we all know who will be behind the scratchy lines.
It has long bothered me why Applebee, a fairly well known postcard publisher in Middlesex and Surrey would want to obliterate a 15 year old girl from a postcard. Initially I had visions of Mrs Applebee insisting her husband do this because of an insane jealously for this girl half her age. But there is no evidence at all to suggest this. Mrs Applebee was utterly devoted to her husband and when he died in 1915 she remained a widow, never remarrying. She died alone in 1972. Another, much more sensible scenario has recently occurred to me. I think the original postcards featuring Ruth were commissioned by her grandfather, Alfred Hill, to sell in his shop. Another establishment in Ripley asked for some postcards to sell so Applebee thought to sent them these. However he realised they might not want to feature the daughter of another local businessman so he simply just scratched Ruth off the negatives and renumbered them. Simple!
Click the postcards to enlarge. I've also included a couple of close-ups of Ruth.
For more old images have a look at the Sepia Saturday blog.

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Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, Batchworth Lock c1913

Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, Batchworth Lock c1913. Batchworth Lock serves the Grand Union Canal and is now home to the Rickmansworth Waterways Trust. The barge on the left carries the number 1922 and appears to be called 'Brimo', but I cannot find any record of this barge online. Other text on the stern states 'Carriers between Oxford and Reading' and 'Upper Thames Blackfriars Towing and Carrying'. I would be grateful if any readers could confirm the identity of the barge, there's a close-up of the stern under the Google Street View.
Postcard by W. H. Applebee of Ashford. This postcard was posted from Rickmansworth in August 1916 to East Dulwich. Click the postcard images to enlarge.
For more old photographs have a look at the Sepia Saturday blog.

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Iver, Buckinghamshire, The High Street, c1910

Iver, Buckinghamshire, The High Street, circa 1910. The building on the right was the premises of George Morton, grocer. It survives, but it is a shadow of its former self. The building on the left was a beerhouse called the 'General Garibaldi'. It was run by the Hutton family in the first decade of the 20th century. No trace of it survives today.
Postcard by an uncredited publisher. Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Camberwell Green, South London, c1913

Camberwell Green, South London, circa 1913. Still a busy area. Postcard by Johns of Tooting. Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Holcombe, Lancashire c1910

Holcombe, Lancashire circa 1910. Holcombe is a village to the north of Bury. This part of the village appears to have changed little. The building in the middle distance on the right is The Shoulder Of Mutton pub. Postcard publisher / photographer not stated.

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Bedford Park, West London, South Parade, St Albans Terrace c1910

Bedford Park, West London, South Parade, St Albans Terrace circa 1910. This parade of shops is just opposite St. Albans Church. Postcard by Young & Co of Teddington.
Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Hayes, Middlesex, Station Road, c1913

Hayes, Middlesex, Station Road, c1913. In this postcard by W. H. Applebee you can clearly see his three-wheeled car, an A. C. Sociable that appeared in many of his postcards (also see these posts on this blog here, here and here). This postcards is one of my favourites from my collection. It gives the town of Hayes a 'wild-west' feel. Notice the girl walking down the street and the men sitting in the garden of the cafe on the right staring at her (or perhaps they are staring at the photographer)?
Click the postcard to enlarge.
Have a look at this week's Sepia Saturday blog - it features a similar three-wheeled vehicle.

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Maidenhead, Berkshire, King Street c1912

Maidenhead, Berkshire, King Street circa 1912. If you look carefully on the right-hand side of the postcard you can see the roof and gable of the Rose Hotel (mostly obscured by the premises of C. Grinsted, Fishmonger). The Rose Hotel (now just a pub) appears to be the only building in this postcard that has survived into the 21st century. Postcard by W. H. Applebee. Click the postcard to enlarge.

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Tollesbury, Essex, Mell Road c1910

Tollesbury, Essex, Mell Road c1910. Tollesbury is a village on the cost of Essex, well known for its oysters. This postcard was published by Young & Co of Teddington. It is unusual to see a postcard by him of such an easterly location. Click the postcard to enlarge. I've included a close-up of the children standing in the street.

For more old pictures have a look at this week's Sepia Saturday blog.

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Frome, Somerset, Bath Road 1910

Frome, Somerset, Bath Road 1910. Frome (pronounced 'Froom') is a picturesque town in Somerset. Postcard by Young & Co of Teddington. Click the postcard to enlarge.

For more old photographs visit this week's Sepia Saturday blog.

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Battersea, South London, Grayshott Road c1914

Battersea, South London, Grayshott Road c1914. This part of Grayshott Road was redeveloped in the late 1960s or early 1970s. The top of Grayshott Road was renamed Acanthus Road, a name that was previously used for a road 100 yards to the right that was also demolished for redevelopment. Grayshott Road now starts at number 45. The men and boys with their milk carts stand outside 41 Grayshott Road, the premises of James Bradbury, Dairyman.
Postcard by W. H. Applebee. Click the postcard to enlarge.
For more old photos have a look at the Sepia Saturday blog.

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