On a hillside above a town

On a grassy hillside, a young lady smiles at the camera. She is relaxed and enjoying the moment with whoever is this side of the camera. It is a good photograph and has been turned into a postcard with number 12103. Her hand in the cardigan pocket seems a typical pose given the way the pockets and cardigan has stretched.  Behind is a town and beyond that the countryside looks very English with trees and hedges and fields vanishing towards a distant haze.

Flood in South Nutfield

I remember the thunderstorms and heavy rain and how Mid Street became like a mighty river rushing near our house.  The flood swept down the road and over the pavements and was very impressive to me at the age of eleven. We had recently moved from Leicester and if this was anything to go by then South Nutfield was going to be an exciting place to live.

This postcard features another young lad at the junction of Mid Street and the Avenue during the same flood. The bridge over Nutfield Brook is overflowing behind him. Wikipedia has more on The Great Flood. (All Rights reserved to Pamlin Prints)

Deer Hunter

The postcard shows a photo, by Val Corbett, of one of the scultures in the Grizedale Forest in the Lake District, called "Deer Hunter" by David Kemp

As You Like It

Eileen Atkins as Rosalind and Richard Pasco as Jaques in a modern dress "As You Like It" at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1973. Photograph by Zoe Dominic.

“And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything. I would not change it.”

Henley regatta

Started in 1839, The Henley Reggata became a major social event during the Victorian Era when this picture was taken - some time around 1890.

Beyond Living Memory

This postcard shows a younger lady, exploring and enjoying something on a walk, while her companion looks on. I have no idea who they are or even how this postcard came into my possession. It is a moment beyond living memory.

Feathers and Fluff

This postcard has the simple caption Feathers and Fluff.

Furka Passhöhe

The Furka Passhöhe, of Furka Pass, in Switzerland, is a place where you can leave your carriage and step out to enjoy the breathtaking view of the Rhone glacier and hike to ice caves.

The Children's Hospital

A picture from The Children's Hospital at The Leicester Infirmary - later to become the Leicester Royal Infirmary where, at birth, I survived an attack by rhesus-positive anti-bodies - which could have been lethal back then in 1957.

I returned to the same hospital to have stitches in my lip after running into a glass door at age 3, and had a broken arm reset at age 4 after falling off my tricycle on ice. Then some time later at age 6 I became an inpatient and underwent a tonsillectomy. I have not been back since.

Croydon Borough Mental Hospital Chelsham

The clock tower is just visible - seen behind the high walls and the trees.In more recent days the hospital was renamed as Warlingham Park Hospital. Opened in 1903, the hospital finally closed in February 1999 and the site was turned into a housing development called Great Park. Something similar has happened to a lot of the old Mental Hospitals that were being run down in the 80s and 90s. Residents were dispersed in a switch from large institutions to smaller residential units and 'care in the community'.