Hi Hilary, Thought I would drop you a line, your mum said it might surprise you. How’s life in Norway as cold as in Sweden. Might see you at Xmas Regards Bob England

A very brief status update, offering no clues as to why Bob was in Sweden…

It is postmarked ‘Stockholm 30-11-1981’ and carries a 1.75 krone stamp featuring Queen Silvia.

The front of the card features part of a watercolour painting by Rolf Lidberg – renowned for his depictions of trolls.

Bob was a work colleague of my mum’s; as I had worked at the same place during school holidays I also knew Bob. This fairly random piece of correspondence would indeed have been a ‘surprise’ and was, no doubt, gratefully received by me in Norway; it was thoughtful of him to take the time to send it. Strange that my married name is ‘England’ – no relation – and it is, in fact, a reasonably common surname here in the UK.