Don't tell anybody you got this...

I've been collecting Carlisle postcards for a few years now and I don't have any specific criteria for choosing what to buy and what not to buy - except the obvious: cards have to be used, and posted from Carlisle.

Whilst the photos provide interest, there's always going to be a finite number of views to see. It's the messages that intrigue me more, the written word of someone who passed through or lived in the city holds stories, secrets, inanities. One can only imagine how the recipient felt to receive a note from a loved one, a family member, a friend.

Some messages are banal, most are entertaining whilst a few others are just plain mysterious. Today's card is the latter....

I picked this one up from Ebay; posted in September 1902, it's one of the earliest cards I have in my collection, and the only one with this view.

This is English Street at the turn of the 20th century. Very nice photo of a tram in the centre (advertising "James" Cycles - read more about the company on this wonderful blogpost at OldBike) and you can see J. Gibson's shop on the right. Is that a police constable standing right in the centre of the picture, too? Or just a fellow with hat on?

The message is an intrigue. It's more interesting for what it doesn't say than what it does.... simply:

"Don't tell anybody you got this".

That's it. There's no name, signature, or initials of any sort. The recipient is  Miss McGowan, Royal Restaurant... where? I can't make out the lettering for the final destination either but the Royal must've been fairly well-known for the card to have got there.*

So, who is he? A clandestine lover, a young suitor, a man on the run? We'll never know. This 110 year old mystery remains as enigmatic now as when the postcard was first sent.

*Thanks to the commentators, and some sleuthing Twitter users, it's been suggested that the lettering on the address side is "Dfs" and this likely stands for Dumfries. This seems very likely, being so close to Carlisle. A quick Google search indicates that there was a Royal Dumfries Restaurant there (in 1924 at least). So, now to find Miss McGowan....

To Mr & Mrs Parris, Station House, Catford Bridge, London, SE6 (1935)

19/7/35

Rain cut short my activities to-day. I covered about 16 miles of the site of the wall (there is no wall visible or scarcely any) when rain came on about 3.30p.m. I spent a long time over tea hoping that it would clear up, but returned to Carlisle [....] at 6.0pm. Reg.

Reg seems to be having a rather disappointing time whilst touring Hadrian's Wall (in the rain) and finds himself back in Carlisle for the evening. He has chosen one of the rarer postcard views of the city, the 'new' bridge over the River Eden. It's hard to find postcards with this view these days as most concentrate on Carlisle's tourist hotspots in town, but at one time the Memorial Bridge was a sight, well used by those paying their respects at the cenotaph.

The suspension bridge joins Rickerby Park on the north side with Stoneyholme golf course on the south. It was built after the First World War when the park was dedicated as a memorial to the fallen. It provides pedestrian access from St Aidan's Road to the park and the war memorial and it was officially opened on 25th May 1922. The Memorial Bridge now forms part of the Walton-Carlisle Hadrian's Wall Walk and Reg may very well have taken this route back into town.

My own memories of the 'spenny' bridge are from 1980s summer holidays when we used to spend time along the river between this and Eden Bridge; jumping off the centre of the spenny bridge into the river was a real test of nerve. I certainly wouldn't do it now!

Postcard info:

Publisher: Unknown

Postmark: 19th July 1935

To Mr & Mrs Battle, 380 Blandford Road, Efford, Plymouth, Devon (1965)...

Dear Mrs Battle and family,

Having a nice time here, but wet weather now. Hope you had a nice time in Ireland.

Cheerio, Mr & Mrs Williams

PS HOW'S JULIE?

Any city will, naturally, change with the times, new buildings will emerge in place of old and so-called 'modernisation' will take place. Carlisle has had it's fair share of this with many of it's older buildings and streets 'updated' or demolished but, despite some doom-laden accounts of the city's descent into 21st century homogenisation, the city still teems with history. Probably the most recognisable change that has taken place over the last century was the building of The Lanes Shopping Centre in 1984 (and the later expansion) but a close second are the massive changes made to the town centre around the same time.

The pedestrianisation of Carlisle city centre is possibly the largest and most dramatic change to the landscape of the city in my lifetime. Although I'm a nostalgic at heart I'm old enough to remember dodging the buses on English Street and the city centre shops being choked up with exhaust fumes. In this card, from 1965, you can see just how busy it could get, with the historic Guildhall and Town Hall looking out onto a glorified bus station! Bring back the Routemasters...but don't let them into the town centre again!

Also in the picture you can see the entrances to the Victorian subterranean toilets, something which is sadly missing, not just in Carlisle but across the country: public lavatories. I'm led to believe these toilets are still in existence but now bricked in - wouldn't it be great if they could be opened up again? There is some criticism that Carlisle has descended into a 'clone town' and the pedestrianistion seems to be the start of a slippery slope to many, but I believe that high rents and lack of local shops is responsible, not the paving. The town centre is now much more open and much more likely to be a place for shoppers and diners to stay rather than just a junction of three or four busy thoroughfares and is so much nicer for it.

One more thing... who is that schoolboy and where is he running to? Or is he being chased by that copper?

Postcard info:

Publisher: Valentine and Sons Ltd., Dundee & London

Postmark: 28th July 1965

To Mr. E. Simpson, 81 Carshalton Pk Rd, Carshalton, Surrey (1939)...

109 Warwick Road, Carlisle, 15th Nov '39

Dear Ted, I hope you are not putting your staff through the mill or toiling as hard as we are here. Don't you wish you were here: In the picture, the large white building on the right is a palatial pub 'The Crescent Inn'. Next door is the P.O. What more could you wish. Our digs are out of sight on the other side. We are in the real pukka residential district. Billeted Captains and Majors are as sands on the sea-shore. As you may have learned, we have a P.O. technical advisor staying with us but I am afraid that, owing to war-time, his lips are sealed about many interesting matters. All the best, yours sincerely, Bernard. Hope to see you at Christmas."

Here's a stately view that hasn't changed much in 70 years, although most of these buildings still stand they serve a different purpose in 2010. On the right, where Bernard describes The Crescent Inn, there is still a pub but the Post Office building has now closed down waiting further use, and next to that is the Lonsdale cinema, now shamefully derelict, which opened in 1931 and would've been an ABC at the time the card was sent. I'm guessing that Bernard was posted here (no pun intended) to work for the Post Office as there's a theme running through his message. I especially like his description of the Warwick Road area residential district as 'pukka'... this area is still teeming with guest-houses.

What's great about this card is the details of the businesses, all now gone.. on the left is the imposing North British Mercantile Insurance Co. Ltd. with McGrath's shoe shop underneath, next door to Robson's Cooked Meats and a hairdresser. Opposite you can see Messenger's newsagent and the Carlisle Dyers and Cleaners. Right on the corner is the HMV sign - can anyone remember this music shop, or indeed any memories of Warwick Road in the 30s? In the background, standing above the area is the tower of St George's Church... but what happened to the four spires, I'm sure they are no longer existing...?

To Miss Eva Bell, The Post Office, Torpenhow, Aspatria... (1906)

Every town and village in the country surely has it's own fair share of local characters, real or imagined. Carlisle is no different and one of our most colourful folk heroes is Jimmy Dyer, 'The Cumberland Bard' who, in the late Victorian times and up to his death in 1903, could be seen on the streets of the city (and others across the county) entertaining passers-by. Jimmy was a regular at festivals, race meetings and the like with his fiddle, his Gladstone bag stuffed with copies of his own verses (which he would sell to those enchanted by them) and his tatty clothes. This itinerant troubadour (or busker, depending on your point of view) was a well-known sight on the streets of Carlisle, an ex-sailor who had numerous run-ins with local magistrates but who, nevertheless, became something of a cult figure. He was such a local celebrity that this card (and others) were issued to commemorate his life and in 1986, at the opening of The Lanes shopping centre, a statue of Jimmy by sculptor Judith Bluck was unveiled. It remains in the city to this day, now outside the new Debenhams department store. This card is based on a photograph by J. Robson and was published by the local firm Nicholson & Cartner. The verse reads

"By Road an River, Country Side and Town, I wander over With my Fiddle brown"

The card itself was posted from Caldbeck in May 1906 and reflects the huge popularity of the postcard at the time. Annie writes to Eva of her collection of almost three hundred postcards and expresses a penchant for those of actresses which were extremely popular at the time. Both sides of the card prove that 'celebrity' certainly isn't a 21st century craze.

If you have any further info about Jimmy Dyer, please let me know by leaving a comment below.

to Miss Emma Atkinson, Kirkbarrow, Tirril, Penrith (1905)

Historic Carlisle, (as it is marketed, appropriately, by the City Council) has a wealth of sights for the visitor and local alike. There are the obvious historic sites such as the Castle and Cathedral, and the nearby Hadrian's Wall. Much of Carlisle's history is represented in the excellent, award-winning Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery which sits across from the Castle on the site of the original Tullie House (built 1689) with newer buildings added to expand the scope and reach of the collection in the 1990s and again in the new century.

I remember well school trips and family outings to the museum in the 1970s and 1980s. I was especially amazed by the stuffed animals and the Roman artefacts. It was at this time, before the new shopping centre had been built in The Lanes, that we also used to visit the library which was housed adjacent to the museum. The library is commemorated in this card from October 1905 showing the ornate entrance to the building, which is still as it is today (the displays may have changed since then!) I'm surprised that I don't have more cards of the musuem and art gallery in my collection as along with the aforementioned castle and cathedral, Tullie House is one of the most interesting sights in the city.

Tullie House was established in 1893 as a museum and continues to be one of the best in the NorthWest. For more info you can visit their superb website: www.tulliehouse.co.uk.

*If anyone can identify any of the works, statues or busts shown in the card I will add them to this post. Thanks.

To Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson, Haber Green, Kirkby Stephen (1905)

Now that we are getting used to the new Prime Minister and the unholy alliance of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats I thought I'd step back 105 years to this card showing Morton House, the home of Carlisle's then Liberal Member of Parliament, Frederick Chance.

The house is now Morton Community Centre but has an interesting history; built in the early 1800s it was first owned by the Forster family bankers in the city. When the family went bankrupt in 1837 it was bought by John Studholme before coming into the hands of the Ferguson family in 1853. The Fergusons have a log history with the city of Carlisle and it was Joseph, a textile manufacturer at Holme Head who bought the property. The first signs of the house's political history can be found in the 1871 census that records that Joseph's son, Robert Ferguson, then resided in the property. Robert was a Member of Parliament for Carlisle and there is a school in Denton Holme which still bears his name. Frederick Chance first became a managing partner at the Ferguson's textile business before moving into Morton House himself. In 1904 he was elected to Mayor of Carlisle and the following year he took his place as Member of Parliament for Carlisle, representing the Liberal Party. This card, posted in December 1905, commemorates his position.

Can you imagine such a postcard nowadays...? Who would really want to send a card showing the home of Carlisle's newest MP, John Stevenson?