Dear Ruth I now send you PC as asked for don't you wish you were here I think you might come out by two train on sunday twenty nineth seeing that it will be the last sunday all is very quiet here I got home safely on sunday night about eleven thirty five pm had company all the way to warwick bridge. have you been locked out any more see what is under the stamp
My favourite quiz question is... what's the largest city in England by area? The answer: Carlisle. I've hosted a few pub quizzes in my time and that one gets them every time (unless I'm in Carlisle, in which case everyone knows).
I share this tidbit with you because this card shows a chocolate box view of one of the city's outlying villages, Wetheral, which is in Carlisle. I have only a few cards from rural Carlisle, but it's an area I want to explore more. I've chosen this postcard for April Fool's Day as it has a coded message, too.
The card is a painting by a local artist, Thomas Bushby. The 'chocolate box' analogy is very apt as Bushby came to Carlisle in 1884 to work as a designer for Hudson Scott & Sons (aka the Metal Box) and his work adorned Victorian biscuit tins a-plenty. Carlisle's superb Tullie House museum also holds a great collection of his art work. This painting of Holly Cottage is signed and dated 1907, the year in which it was posted.
Wetheral today is still a picture postcard village, with village green, pub, shop, tea room etc. There are some great walks to be had in the surrounding Wetheral woods, and the railway station, perched precariously high above the River Eden, with the adjacent Corby Bridge is well worth a visit for the superb views.
This postcard has been written in a simple code, with backwards handwriting, and a mirror is required to read it comfortably. Writing in codes such as this was fairly common at the time, but they rarely included anything particularly juicy in the gossip stakes! Here the message is a fairly normal one of greeting, but I can't help but marvel at the neatness of the handwriting. There's some skill involved here!
What I'd like to know is..... what's underneath the stamp?!
Publisher: Chas. Thurnam & Sons, English Street, Carlisle
No. 1 in the CUMBERLAND COTTAGES series
Printed by Hudson Scott & Sons, Ltd., Carlisle
Postmarked: 8th September 1907
