Sepia Saturday 187 - churches

I don't have anything biblical to share for this week's Sepia Saturday, but I have stayed on the theological theme with some vintage postcards of churches. Rather than go for the more well known churches in big towns and cities, I have instead opted for a few smaller, almost certainly less familiar ones. Admittedly I did not do a huge amount of research for this posting, but something I did discover on my travels through hyperspace, was that John Betjeman had a love of churches as well as trains. I have several of his books on the latter but none on the former - perhaps it's time to put this right.

Vintage postcard of Clayton Church, Sussex, c.1907

Vintage postcard of Culbone Church, Minehead, Somerset

Vintage postcard of Hollington, the Church in the Wood, Sussex

Vintage postcard of Sompting Church, Sussex, c.1917

As usual, 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

    

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

I know that snow causes huge problems for many, but I have to confess that I REALLY like it. I worked from home today, the kids did not go to school, and it actually feels a bit like winter at last. I thought as my updates in this blog had not been as regular as I'd have liked this year that I thought I'd do a blog post on vintage postcards featuring snow that don't mention the word Christmas.

 Vintage panel postcard of a church in the snow, published by C.W.Faulkner

Vintage postcard of the Stepping Stones, Jesmond Dene, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Vintage postcard of snow in the Palace Yard, Gloucester, published by Burrow

Vintage panl postcard of a winter scene, published by C.W.Faulkner

Vintage olio postcard of a winter scene

Vintage postcard of the river in winter, Stratford-on-Avon

    

As usual 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Theme Thursday: Round

Vintage postcard collection to the rescue again for this week's Theme Thursday. In fact I had a couple to choose from and couldn't decide which one I preferred, so I decided to post both of them.

Round Tower, Glendaough, County Wick, Ireland

The Round Church, Cambridge

100's more vintage postcards on my web site

    

Sepia Saturday 57 - the Recycling of Stoke Poges Church Spire

In the recent batch of 200 or so vintage postcards I have yet to find the time to sort through properly, I was looking for a suitable postcard for this week's Sepia Saturday and found this one. It's a fairly ordinary looking postcard of Stoke Poges Church in Buckinghamshire, but what struck me as interesting about it was the caption which reads 'Stoke Poges Church, Spire removed 1924'. Curious to know more I researched the history and found that the spire was replaced in 1834 and then finally removed in 1924 as it was endangering the structure. Once removed the spire was used to make the 2 lych gates which span the churchyard path, which I also have a postcard of. More information about Stoke Poges Church

Stoke Poges Church, spire removed 1924

Stoke Poges Church and Lych gate

As always, 100's more vintage postcards on my web site

Vintage postcards by W.A.Call, Monmouth Studio

Firstly, a Happy New Year to all my followers. My first blog of the New Year concerns a postcard publisher who, I don't come across very often, but when I advertise them on ebay they sell like hot cakes. These vintage postcards are published in The "CAMBRIA" Series, from photographs by W.A.Call, The County Studio, Monmouth. Initially I thought these cards were restricted to Monmouthshire and the nearby counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, etc., but I have recently found one from Somerset. The ones I've found so far are all of church, abbey and cathedral interiors. To be honest these are not spectacular postcards to look at in the way that say a Raphael Tuck oilette or a Hildesheimer artist drawn postcard are, and in fact they remind me slightly of bland Judges postcards. However, as with most things in life, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if these particular typeof vintage postcards are your passion then enjoy the handful that I've posted below.

Carhampton Church, Somerset

Newland Church, near Coleford, Gloucestershire

Skenfrith Church, Monmouthshire

Gloucester Cathedral, detail of the roof transept, north transept

Tintern Abbey, South Window, Monmouthshire