Nostalgia

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With love from Vancouver (1987)

with love from Vancouver

28/9 Dearest Hilary & Simon, Saw this statue in Stanly Park where I’m now sitting with Dad looking out at the Pacific. I thought of you – what a lot we’ll have to talk about now. Weather is lovely, warm & hazy – lots of yachts going by. NO STRIKE YET SO WILL WRITE AGAIN. Still can’t believe we’re here. Van excellent Take care, love always Mum & Dad

Mum is very excited to be in Canada and to share news with us. Presumably there was a threat of a postal strike which would have been frustrating (this was before electronic communication was widely available).

The card is postmarked 29 IX 1987 and carries a 72 cent stamp from the 1987 fourth release of the Heritage Artefacts Definitive Series.

On the front is a view from Vancouver’s iconic Stanley Park.

In 1987 both my parents were able to negotiate a rare three weeks off work for their trip to tour Vancouver and British Columbia in a camper van. Exactly 30 years later their granddaughter made a similar journey – they have enjoyed comparing routes, notes and photos 🙂

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With love from Cornwall (2005)

with love from Cornwall

Hi Hilary – We’re in Cornwall at the moment – thought of you and Simon as we’re in Newquay today. Janet (Gra’s sister) is getting married on Saturday + Carrie + Ashlea are bridesmaids + I’m singing. Lots of excitement + my mum + dad are coming too. Getting about to different beaches with the children. Hope to catch up before hols are ended – will be in touch. Lots of love Sara + all xxx

Amidst all the excitement Sara has still found time to drop me a postcard – the style of writing suggests a very hectic time. Simon, my husband, comes from Cornwall, which is why she’s thought of us.

The postmark is very blurred, but I believe that it is dated 22.06.05  The other blurred postmark is asking us to ‘Please print the postcode’ – something which Sara has ignored on this occasion, and the card still arrived safely!

I haven’t seen Sara in a while, we both seem to have more time for meeting during the winter months…

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With love from Isle of Wight (1990)

With love from Carisbrooke

Dear Hilary & Simon Quite a nice change Have never been to I.O.W. So glad I am going to be a great, great aunt Love Auntie Laura

The postmark is not clear, however I know that it was 1990 as that is the year our daughter was born.

We do not learn whether Auntie Laura visited Carisbrooke Castle, featured on the front!

A 20p stamp commemorates the Stamp World Exhibition held in London that year.

Auntie Laura seemed excited at the prospect of an additional ‘great’ in front of her name 🙂

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With love from Minehead (1986)

with love from Minehead

23.6.86 Had an easy journey here & weather varied. Sun & mist but warm. We are close to Exmoor & with a good pair of boots would love to walk up there. Sad but I think those days are past. Hope your Lake District holiday was a success. We return on Sat. Love Auntie Vi

Auntie Vi is in her favourite county of Somerset and coming to terms with the fact that she isn’t able to do as much as she once could. The Lake District holiday to which she refers was our honeymoon earlier in the year 🙂

The card is postmarked ‘MINEHEAD 23 JUN 1986’ and carries a 17p stamp which was part of a set issued in 1986 featuring medieval life, and commemorating the 900th anniversary of the Domesday Book.

(Great) Auntie Vi was a widow for much of her later life; she overcame her grief and regained her spirit and independence – an example to us all. 

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With love from Malia, Greece (c1987)

with love from Malia

Sunday.  so far so good, chickens and deckchairs aside. Having lots of fun – loads of swimming, snorkelling (have seen some great fish!), sunbathing etc Food – dirt cheap & the beer. We’re hiring scooters to see ruins of Heraklion tomorrow then a jeep to visit Vai (of bounty advert fame) & some other places. Have 2 trips planned too; a cretan evening with apt food & entertainment in scenic spot & an approx 10 mile walk along biggest gorge in Europe (apparently) + desparately needed boat ride! Loads of banana trees about. Malia‘s a pleasant combination of old traditional & new touristy. Hope to see you soon (after 25th) love Sara, Simon x

There seems to be an entire ‘rough guide’ to Crete contained in this message! Sara and Simon are certainly making the most of their trip.

Unfortunately, the card carries no postmark, so I am guessing this was sent around 1987

The 32 drachma stamp is from the Greek Gods series issued in 1986

Sara and I have been friends since school and continue to see each other regularly – I’m not sure if she still uses my nickname from way back, Hiral… that’s the thing about nicknames, you don’t notice them after a while!

 

 

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With love from Algarve, Portugal (1986)

with love from Portugal

Dear Hilary & Simon, Weather lovely Having a good time I suffered losing a stone for my holiday I will put 25 stone on the food is fab Love Auntie Laura

A short and sweet note featuring our favourite topics of the weather and food!

The card is postmarked ’25-VI 1986 Armacao‘ and carries a selection of stamps, two of which are from the Traditional Portugal Architecture series and one from the Development of Technology series, issued in 1978

Auntie Laura was my great aunt, she was married to my Nan’s brother. We saw them regularly at family gatherings when I was young, and they were fun to be around. Auntie Laura was a rock within her own immediate family; she died some years ago.

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With love from Dawson, Canada (2002)

with love from Yukon

June 12/2002  Hello everyone! I know it has been a really long time since I have been in contact, and I hope you are still at this address. All of the children must be getting so mature, as I believe it has been almost 3 years since I left England. Lots is happening, I am ½ way done my university degree in Victoria, B.C, but I am living and working up in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory this summer. The land of the Midnight Sun, I will go to Dawson this weekend, Right now they are having 22 hrs of sunlight. Hope all is well. Love Allison Carr xo

What an interesting status update! But we are left wondering what Allison is doing in Whitehorse and why she is visiting Dawson, which is a good six hour car journey away!

The stamp is a 1.25 value featuring Sculpture from the Traditional Trades definitive set issued in 1999

As a young woman, Allison lived and worked in our town in the late nineties, which was when our children were very small. In a bid to escape, what could be a very hectic domestic environment, Simon and I decided that a regular, weekly date night was a good idea! Allison was recommended to us as a babysitter, and she came once a week for about a year to look after the children while we were out. The children were fascinated by her accent and her world travels. Eventually, she went back to her home country, Canada, to continue her studies. Sadly, she didn’t give us a forwarding address, so we were never able to respond to this card. If anyone out there knows this Allison Carr, then please ask her to get in touch, as I would love to catch up and exchange news with her.

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With love from Niagara Falls (1982)

with-love-from-niagara

3-2-82  Dear Hilary, Having a great time at Niagara. We’re staying here over night and returning to Toronto tomorrow. Haven’t seen any mounties yet, but there’s plenty of time, and I’m just finishing my training programme so I can catch one! Lumberjacks are in short supply too, would you settle for an Italian! You ought to consider driving a truck out here, they’re immense, + so are the roads – anyway write soon. Love Amanda

Although signed Amanda, I’m fairly convinced that this is another of Mand‘s jokey status updates – she has reverted to her full name and has helpfully dated the message.

The stamps are from a 1977 definitive set of five stamps featuring trees of Canada.

A wide angle lens has captured most of the falls, but it is hard to get a sense of scale from this image.  Better scale on this one, but it loses the vastness…

When we were at school we loved the whole Monty Python lumberjack thing 🙂  I’m not sure what the Italian reference is.  Back in the day, my main career ambition was to become a truck (HGV) driver – slightly influenced by adverts for Yorkie bars (‘good, rich and thick’!), and undoubtedly encouraged by the irritation it provoked in parents and teachers alike, ha!

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With love from Shanklin (1988)

with-love-from-shanklin

Spending a week with a local Probus Group in Sandown for one week.  Excellent hotel & good service.  Quite warm at the moment & air like wine.  Love Auntie Vi

Postmarked ‘Portsmouth & Isle of Wight 9 MAY 1988’ this is another brief status update from (Great) Auntie Vi.  The important things are mentioned, of course; the weather and the quality of the hotel 🙂

I’ve never heard of Probus and, with the ignorance of youth and the lack of Wickipedia back in the day, I probably never bothered to find out about it in 1988!  Auntie Vi was a professional, intelligent woman and always sought out like minded people.

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With love from Huizen, Holland (1980)

with-love-from-holland

Dear Hiral, Having a great time, so far, (it’s only the 2nd day but I’m sending this now so it arrives before I do!) As you can see the natives are really lively, always laughing + joking tapping their clogs, harping on about windmills and making sure their bikes are roadworthy. A FULL REPORT ON MY RETURN! Luv MAND.

A witty note full of stereotypical descriptions, but not a lot of information about what Mand is doing on her trip! Huizen is in northern Holland but there is no indication if Mand was staying there or simply passing through.

The card is postmarked ‘AMSTERDAM 18 VIII 80’ and carries another postmark which roughly translates as ‘POSTCODE use it well’ – a familiar request. The 55c stamp features Queen Juliana and was issued in 1971

Mand was at senior school and sixth form college with me, along with Sara and Anne. At one point Mand and I fell out over a boy… I’m no longer in touch with Mand.