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To Master M. Macdonald, 17 Portland Square, Carlisle (1909)...

Dear Malcolm,

Many thanks to you and Ian for photos, they were very good. I hope you had a jolly Xmas and that you will all have a very happy New Year. tell Ian I will send him a P.C. soon I shall be very pleased to see James, Ian and yourself. Any time after next Monday. I will be away from home till then. love to all from Jeannie

Hope you are all well.

A Christmas and New Year greeting, sent from Dalston to Carlisle in December 1909. A search of the 1911 census tells me that the recipient, Malcolm Macdonald, was born in 1898, the son of Dr James Macdonald. He, and his other son, Ian, born in 1901, are also mentioned in the greetings.

Published by W R & S Ltd (Reliable Series 187/8)

Postmarked: December 1909

To Mrs L. Ansell, 73 Foundry Rd, Yapton, Arundel, Sussex (1964)...

Dear Pat & Jan.

 Just to let you know that we are on our way home, I am writing this at Burnley on Friday. We have had a fairly good journey except for a few showers today.

Hope all are well. Love Mum & Dad.

A view that's little changed since this postcard was sent almost 50 years ago, although many of the businesses have changed hands since then. It's a reminder that Botchergate, now lined with pubs and clubs, was once a thriving shopping street with awnings lining the road as far as the eye can see. At the top of the street both The Cumberland Tailors and the Midland Bank (where I had my first bank account) are now both bars, Bar Solo and The Griffin (named after their predecessor's famous logo). The Red Lion Hotel is now the County Hotel and you can just make out the Army Recruiting Office (below the hotel's flagpole). In the centre, a mainstay of so many 1960s images, the ubiquitous Morris Minor!

Published by Millar & Lang Ltd., Glasgow

Postmarked: Rochdale, 7th August 1965

To Mr. W. S. Macdonald, 2nd Lieut, Ward E4, Worsley Hall Hospital, Nr. Manchester (1915)...

27/4/15

Got your cheery wire for which many thanks. I believe it is now in the hands of Mrs Welsh as a souvenir. Hope you call at Clifford St when on leave. Goodbye, with the best of luck. Your "old" pal Hip.

Next year sees the starts of a four year commemoration of the First World War, which will be marked by hundreds of events all across the country, up to 2018. I'm planning on digging out some postcards from the era too and I'm hoping to mark next year's anniversary with a particular bit of research I've been undertaking over the past few months.

For now, I chose this postcard at random for the latest post and it turns out to be the first I have that relates to the war. The view shows the Castle, itself a place not immune to conflict, one of the city's most popular and prominent tourist attractions. It was sent in April 1915 to 2nd Lieutenant W. S. Macdonald who was a patient (I presume) at Worsley Hall in Manchester. The hall, a Victorian stately home built for the 1st Earl of Ellesmere, was taken over for use a hospital during the war. Sadly, I have no further information on the fate of Mr. Macdonald, but if you do please leave a comment below.

The message is upbeat, despite the context, but I always feel a certain pathos when I read 'good luck' messages on cards from this era. The writer surely knows that he may not see his "old" pal again.

Lochinvar Series

Postmarked: 28th April 1915

Destination Carlisle...

M.CASTELYNN

55 AMBERLEY WAY

ROMFORD

ESSEX

RM7 8BT

Another competition entry postcard (by the 1980s it seems we'd lost the art of correspondence altogether), but I've chosen it for today's post as it's a rare self-published advertising postcard showing the Swallow Hilltop Hotel, once the epitome of luxury.

News came this week that businessmen Simon Harrison and Robin Graham have delayed their opening of the new boutique hotel, The Halston, while they demolish the newly acquired eyesore that was once the Lonsdale Cinema, and convert it into a car park. It's an ignominious end for a building that was an integral part of many of our childhoods. I was one of many who thought that the Lonsdale was worth saving, either as a cinema, a theatre, a music venue or similar but even I'll now admit that after years of decay, this is now the best thing for it. What is really disappointing is that the site will become a car park, which will certainly pay back Messrs. Harrison and Graham for their outlay in acquiring the site at auction, but is a sign of the lack of investment and forward thinking which Carlisle so desperately needs.

Don't get me wrong, I applaud Harrison and Graham for having the vision to make swingeing changes to the city, and we need more like them, who are ready to put their hands in their pockets and regenerate the sites that have fallen into disrepair, but they admit that they bought the site due to it's proximity to their hotel and the detrimental effect it would have on their business. The car park option is a quick fix and it's just a shame some other like-minded businessmen didn't snap it up to create something a little more inspiring.

Back to the matter at hand.... this is the second hotel themed postcard I've blogged recently and whilst I was reading about the plans for The Halston it struck me that Carlisle is now awash with places to stay. It's always been a city for tourists, but I do wonder nowadays who the clientele are. I stay in hotels whenever I come home, and The Halston will be the third to open in the last ten years (after the Travelodge on Cecil Street, and the Ibis on Botchergate). Much has been said about Carlisle becoming a 'destination' but there's very little in the city itself that now warrants more than a day out. I expect the target audience are those using the city as a starting point for discovering The Lakes, the Borders or the sites along Hadrian's Wall. But I have to admit that the number of hotels in the city now seems a little over-enthusiastic considering what we have on offer. I shall continue to bleat on about an arts venue until someone puts their hands in their pockets, or I win big on the Euromillions.

The Swallow Hilltop Hotel is one of the many that are still soldiering on. When I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s this, along with the Crown and Mitre in the city centre, were what we considered to be the luxury places to stay. Not that we ever did , of course (the only time I ever set foot in the place was for a record fair in the conference suite). The Swallow's reputation as the "Ritz" of the city was cemented in my mind when Kylie Minogue stayed there in the 1990s. It's location, out of the centre on London Road, always made it feel somewhat exclusive, and this 1980s multiview postcard shows some of that star treatment: a spa, a swimming pool and a couple of swanky bars. I'm afraid that this was probably it's heyday and reviews on Trip Advisor suggest it has lost most of it's charm these days. With new hotels opening I can only see stalwarts like the Swallow Hilltop fading away, and I doubt there'll be a campaign to save it.

Publisher: unknown

Postmark: illegible

To Master E. Macdonald, 17 Portland Squ, Carlisle (1905)

A small selection for your collection.

This week I saw a report about the multi-millionaire Paul Lister's plans to reintroduce bears and wolves onto a vast swathe of Scottish countryside, specially adapted for the purpose. I rather like the idea myself, but it put me in mind of a fantastical story from Carlisle's past - the mystery of the Allendale wolf.

Over 100 years ago, in the winter of 1904/05 tales of a mystery beast terrorising townsfolk and attacking livestock were rife across the fields and woodland surrounding Hexham in Northumberland. For a month, in December 1904, stories abound of a wolf on the loose in the Allendale area, with numerous reported sightings and many more gruesome discoveries of slaughtered sheep. Local newspapermen filled their columns with bloody tales of mutilation and the hunt for this elusive and mysterious beast.

The wolf was thought to be an escapee from the home of Captain Bain of Shotley Bridge who reported a cub missing three months earlier, however, at the time of the disappearance local news insisted that the animal was of no threat to either livestock or human. By December things were looking very different and by Christmas 1904 the legend of the Allendale wolf was born. Each report of a new sighting or a newly mutilated corpse was met with an ever-growing party of hunters, sometimes 100-200 strong, scouring the countryside to put a stop to the slaughter. The wolf evaded every one, and slowly but surely he began to assume a mystical status... folk songs were written and stories were told of a creature not of this earth but from the realms of fantasy and horror. Each new sighting was eagerly relayed in the Hexham Courant to the increasingly frenzied local population, and the story of the Allendale wolf spread wide; expert trackers, including a celebrated Indian game hunter, Mr W Briddick, were enlisted, but still the wolf roamed free. 

But not for long. Carlisle's place in the story of the Allendale wolf was cemented at the end of December 1904 when a Midland Express train to Scotland collided with a beast near Cumwhinton. This macabre postcard, published by the local firm of James Beaty & Sons (with a photo by Carlisle photographer F. W. Tassell) tells the whole story, including the animal's violent end. The wolf was severed in two but was 'skilfully joined together' for this grotesque posed shot. There are a number of postcards depicting the wolf's demise, many simply a photo of the dead animal lying on a wooden board, but here they've surrounded the corpse with pictorial recreations of his exploits - there are the hunters tracking their prey, the wolf himself devouring a sheep and, of course, the moment when he meets his untimely end.

Was this the end? As with all good folk tales the discovery of the "famous Allendale wolf" only fuelled the speculation and the theories and stories live on to this day. More sightings of a 'wolf' were reported during January 1905, and yet more mutilated livestock were found. Even the London-based newspaper, The Bystander, ran a story suggesting the wolf was still on the loose, a suggestion aided by the reluctance of Captain Bain to accept that the animal killed at Cumwhinton was the same that he lost some months earlier. Whether to avoid blame or calls from compensation from the farmers affected, he resolutely denied that this was the same animal, being so much larger and fully-grown than that which he lost. This denial, along with more apparent sightings and the refusal by many to accept that the wolf had travelled such a distance (30 miles) into unknown territory, simply added to the excitement that the wolf was still at large. By the time this postcard was sent in February 1905 the tale of the Allendale wolf was consigned to history. 

Who knows from whence it came and whether, indeed, the wolf pictured here is the beast that stalked the woodlands of Allendale over 100 years ago. The mystery remains.

Published by James Beaty & Sons, Carlisle (Northern Series)

Postmarked: Carlisle, 10th February 1905

To Miss E. Middleton, Alma Terrace, Selby, Yorkshire (1910)

2 Thirlmere St, Currock, Carlisle

Dear F. Just arrived in C. after a most lovely sail which I enjoyed right well. I found them all in the pink at home! they all wish to be remembered to you. Willie & I are just off out for a walk so I shall be allright [?][?][?] J.J. shall probably call & see Mary tonight.

Yours [?] Jack

Here's a great real photographic postcard, posted in 1910, which seems about right for the image too. This is one of the first sights for most visitors to Carlisle, standing directly outside the railway station. Confusingly, 100 years ago this was the County Hotel, however, that name now applies to another hotel a few yards to the left of this picture, at the top of Botchergate. 

The hotel pictured here is still in use and is now part of the Hallmark chain, but, apart from the name change very little has altered in this view over the last century. Sure, the horse-drawn carriages have been replaced, but the buildings remain remarkably intact, the central archway leading to Collier Lane is still in use and, on the far left you can see the edge of the former Midland bank (now The Griffin pub).

I'd be interested to know more about the hotel itself, when it was built and any history surrounding the buildings, so please leave a comment below if you have any information.

Published by W. R. & S 

Reliable Series 187/29

Postmarked: Carlisle, 13th September 1910