They came from a charity shop in Wymondham. They were reproductions of old scenes issued by the local newspaper group when it was owned by Archant. Despite not being genuinely old (although they were made to look old) they were interesting.
The first was of Gorleston seafront in 1945. It looks like summer, but it's not possible to tell whether the war had ended or was in its last knockings. The place is absolutely jammed with people.
Gorleston is one of our favourite places to go but usually nowadays it's pretty quiet. I must go there and capture a comparison photo this summer.
For those of you who don't know Gorleston, it's just across the river from Great Yarmouth and is a kind of cousin resort but much quieter. It has a broad sweeping sandy beach. If you have seen the film "Yesterday" you will have seen Gorleston. Towards the end of the film, the main character plays a concert from the roof of a hotel with hundreds of fans on the beach below. Well that's Gorleston.
I have scanned in the postcard which is included with this blog along with the second photograph which was taken in 1946 and is of Pull's Ferry in Norwich. That's Pull's and not Paul's as so many people call it.
Pull's Ferry is named after John Pull, who ran the ferry across the River Wensum from 1796 to 1841. It was previously known as Sandling's, after a seventeenth-century predecessor. The ferry operated until 1943 which was just three years before our photo was taken.
Stone from Caen in France was transported along the rivers Yare and Wensum and landed at the area which is at the bottom of Norwich Cathedral Close. There it was transported for use in the building of the Norman Cathedral.
Today the area around Pull's Ferry is one of the most photographed areas of Norwich and is part of a lovely riverside walk which takes you around the city and past the equally historic Cow Tower which was built in the late 14th century as part of the city's fortifications.
Hope you enjoy the historic photos. The photos of a very old Pulls Ferry and Pulls Ferry today are taken from Wikipedia and used under what is known as creative commons which gives permission to use them for non commercial purposes.
Getting back to postcards. I must hunt out some more old photos of Norfolk in charity shops. They tell a history of the county in their own special way.
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Yesterday I mentioned the phrase It's a monkey's wedding. Apparently this phrase probably comes from South Africa. It's used to describe a period of time when the sun is out but it's raining. Apparently there are many similar phrases in other parts of the world but using different animals.
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I have been planning a day of discovery out on the buses to retrace the steps of my youth. No I'm not regressing in my old age but preparing the final afterword for my autobiography by revisiting the places where I grew up to see how they have changed. I will of course turn my trip into a blog.
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Did you know that I know people valued at £12 million. Yes I know several millionaires. We are talking fantasy cricket here. Yesterday I entered a team in the Hethersett and Tas Valley fantasy cricket league. It features players who play for the club and I was given £55 million to spend. Quite honestly if somebody gave me £55 million I would give a load to various charities, maybe buy a house and a car and go travelling. I don't think I'd buy 11 local cricketers, but each to his own as they say.
I no longer play cricket but I reckon if I did and if I was featured in the fantasy cricket league I would be worth two marbles and a conker.
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Finally today I want to say how pleased I was with the photo of me and the other four fifths taken on Sunday at the Star Throwers charity tea. It made me look big. The only disconcerting thing was the glasses. It looked as if I was wearing sunglasses indoors rather like Roy Orbison. They are prescription glasses that are light sensitive and so do act as sunglasses as well. On Sunday the foyer at Park Farm must have been very bright hence the dark shades.
Incidentally Roy Orbison didn't wear sunglasses as a gimmick as many people suppose. He had a genuine medical condition that made him sensitive to light.