P IS FOR.....

'P'  IS FOR PICTURE POSTCARDS

Sorry about this, for those who have heard me rattle on about Flamborough, but blame Meanqueen who posted a whole host of fantastic photos of Flamborough on her blog this weekend and how could I resist?

MY COLLECTION OF POSTCARDS OF FLAMBOROUGH HEAD, YORKSHIRE U.K.

There are 76 in the photo above.

There are 15 in the photo above.  All of them are dated from 1903 through 1910.

These four are oilettes, a kind of card done by artists that were popular in the twenties and thirties and maybe some before.  This kind of picture post card is still very collectible today.  Some of the more popular artists have dozens of scenes from all over the UK.  I really like this kind because of my interest in art.

But these are really the staple of my collections, the reality photographs.     Top left is actually one that my father took and marketed.  It can still be found on eBay today.  You can see the golf course on it and that's where we lived.  My father was the manager of the golf club in the fifties.  That was after he lost his business, the Yorkshire Photographic Company. I wonder how many golf balls were lost over the cliffs.       The card on the right is another view.  If you follow the edge of the cliff from right to left you should be able to see a faint reddish dot.  That's where our house was.  I absolutely LOVED living there!       The bottom left is a recent post card of a painting of the headland done by a local artist.  It is meticulously done.  I have  print #4  taken from the original painting and it is up on the wall in the den of my house. Yes, we have puffins there and two lighthouses --  one from the 16th century and one from the 19th.  The newer one is a working lighthouse.  To see more of this do visit meanqueen's blog.  She has some good shots of the inside.  

The cliffs are 400 foot high in places and although they are known to many as the Flamborough cliffs, they are actually Bempton Cliffs, named for a small village about a mile away from Flamborough.  If you walked directly away from the cliffs going south (or left in the picture), you would come to the house in Flamborough village where we also lived.  This whole area is a Heritage Coastline and is protected.  The cliffs are famous for the multitude of sea birds.         The top right card is actually taken in Bridlington in 1909 at a memorial march to the Sailor's Chapel for three Flamborough brothers lost in a tragic fishing boat accident in dangerous seas.       The bottom right photo is very old also, but it is one of my favorites because it is taken inside the enormous cave at the North Landing, known as Robin Lythe's Hole.  It is about 60 foot high and is entered from the beach area at low tide and comes out from under the cliffs on the seaward side of the bay.

If you look at my side bar you will see that I have written a book "The Tale of Robin Lythe."  It was actually first written by R.D. Blackmore of "Lorna Doone" fame.  His book is called "Mary Anerley" and is the tale of a swash buckling pirate who was  found washed up as a baby on the beach at North Landing.  I greatly condensed Blackmore's book and tried to update it without it losing its literary value. Blackmore was absolutely accurate in all of his lengthy descriptions of Flamborough  and life in the village in the 1800's.  My purpose was to retain the customs and culture of this wonderfully unique fishing village.

Well, got that off my chest for another year -- maybe!  This is my post for ABC Wednesday, the popular project started by Mrs. Nesbitt, who knows all about Flamborough and frequently says "hi" for me as she and her husband sail on by on their motorbike.  Please visit this page and see the amazing topics participants produce.