Month: November 2015

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with love from Lille (1983)

With love from Lille

Dear Hiral, having a lovely time. Eating lots of French fattening stuff, but not speaking much French (have lost my voice almost completely which doesn’t help!) See you soon. Love Anne xxx

The card features L’église St Maurice in Lille, which, on the reverse of the card, is described as the capital of the north [of France].

It’s Postmarked ’22h 4-12 1983′ and carries a 2 franc Liberté de Gandon stamp which was issued in 1983.

See how, as she’s in France, Anne has used the French form of address – M’elle, short for Madamoiselle or ‘Miss’ – that’s a nice touch!

The message gives little away – why was she there in December? Who, if anyone, was she with?

Anne and I chose different routes after college; she continued on to university while I travelled and worked abroad, but we always stayed in touch via letters or cards and continue to do so 🙂

 

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with love from The Cotswolds (1975)

With love from the Cotswolds

To Hilary, Thankyou very much for the lovely birthday card you sent me, I have forgotten exactly when your birthday is, I know it is soon so please will you let me know. My mum sends your mum her love. I am going to Wadhurst College as a boarder on Sept 10th Have fun Ida.

The text on this card offers no clues about a trip to The Cotswolds; 790 square miles of outstanding natural beauty in South West England.

Indeed the card wasn’t even posted from The Cotswolds as it bears a very clear ‘Tunbridge Wells 1.30pm 20 Aug 1975 Kent’ postmark.

Interestingly the other postmark promoting ‘The Pantiles ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS’ was still being used in 1981

So, forty years ago, here is my good friend Ida dropping me a quick note to thank me for a birthday card. I still know when her birthday is, although, these days, I don’t always remember to send a card in time. I am one of those people that remembers dates, whereas Ida is one of those who doesn’t! Never-the-less, we have exchanged many other sorts of cards over the years 🙂 

 

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with love from the Algarve, Portugal (1983)

With love from Algarve

8.07.83 Hallo Hilary! I send you a lot of greetings from the Algarve. Portugal is a marvellous country with very friendly people and a great landscape, especially in the Atlantic coast. The Algarve isn’t that nice, (too many tourists) and so we leave Portugal tomorrow to spend some days in Spain. I hope you also had a nice holiday & lots of ☼ (sunshine) Best wishes! Claudia

A beautiful sunset over the cliffs of the Algarve which, despite the charms of the landscape, seems spoilt by tourists!

The postmark ‘11.07.83 Vila Real St Antonio‘ suggests that it was dropped in the post box just before Claudia and her companion crossed over the river to Spain. The stamps are from the 1978-1983 definitive set of twenty two, illustrating work tools.

As previously mentioned, Claudia and I exchanged letters and cards between Germany and the UK for many years; however, it is now a long time since I last heard from her.

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with love from Corfu (2015)

With love from Corfu

To Mum & Dad x Been to some pretty cool places recently but missing the famolam!♥ Hope home life is still plodding along… Cannot wait for some QFT in October ☺ Love you both lots – Thanks for all the support hugs & kisses Tallulah (aka: your ‘seafarer’ daughter ☺)

This carries the postmark ‘TZABPOY 24.08.15’ which I have identified as the tiny hamlet of Tzavros on Corfu, Greece. The stamp is very colourful featuring an underwater scene and is part of a set issued in 2015 entitled ‘Diving Tourism’, promoting Greek tourism and the diving opportunities to be found there.

The picture on the front is self explanatory featuring the old town and fortress of Corfu which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The use of symbols and punctuation identifies this as a 21st century message which is simply ‘missing you and looking forward to seeing you’.

Tallulah is my daughter who travels the world working as a super yacht deckhand; this billionaire industry is jaw dropping…  Tallulah loves being on the water and her trips home are becoming less frequent. However, in October 2015 we did enjoy QFT (quality family time) when she was back for a few weeks. Home life does, indeed, plod along – that’s the beauty of home; always there and always more or less the same – enduring security and insurance for the traveller! Like all daughters Tallulah is beautiful; I love her unconditionally and I am very proud of her.