Crossings the Dales

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt  is travelling inland over bridges

Settle-Carlisle Postcard No 62

66150 taking cement tanks from Clitheroe to Moss End past the Mount Zion chapel via Dandry Mire Viaduct. The chapel opened in 1876, its foundation stone laid on the 1st May of that year to coincide with the first day of passenger trains running on the line. It is believed to be the only place of of worship in the UK built by railway contractors. Before the permanent chapel was built a temporary wooden shack on the site served as chapel, school and reading room for the railway navvies (workers). Weekly services stopped in 1999 but it is lovingly preserved by the Friends of Hawes Junction Chapel and now provides welcome shelter and maybe reflection for walkers and cyclists exploring the Yorkshire Dales.

Settle to Carlisle Postcard No 53

I've shown a postcard of Ribblehead Viaduct before but as one of my favourite viaducts I seem to have accumulated views of it in all season so here it is in autumn/winter colours. The locomotive is Capability Brown travelling south from Glasgow to London Euston. The loco carried the name Capability Brown (after the famous landscape gardener) from 1992 to 1996 and was subsequently renamed High Peak in 1998 possibly because it changed from passenger service to freight.

Automobiles

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is Travelling by  Car or Bus

A 1904 Renault 20/30 HP Park Phaeton, an early passenger car. The name phaeton seems to indicate speed but  perhaps the next car is more likely

to fit the bill.The Lacia Lambda, a groundbreaking car built in Italy from 1922-31. A polo match may have just finished or about to start. The sport is described as "chess at full gallop".  Did this early advertising poster equate that to driving a Lancia?.

The Square, Northleach

Time to slow down and  pay a visit to a post office (on the left) in the Cotswold market town of  Northleach, Gloucestershire. A postcard from the early 1980s, yellow and white must have been a popular colour for cars back then.

High and Low

 

G

1963: Landscapes of Hwagshan - Yellow Mountains

Jade Screen Peak composed of Mesozoic granite formed through intense magmatic activity, its steep cliffs later sculpted by repeated glacial action during the last 2.6 million years, known as the Quaternary Period.

1963: Czech Scenery

Taking a deep dive to the caves and stalagmites of Moravia. The Moravian Karst contains over a thousand spaces and caves decorated with stalactites and stalagmites. The five major cave systems have guided tours, one of which has a motorboat ride along the underground Punkva River

1964: Tourism Series

More stalactites and stalagmites in the Drach Cave, four great caves in the island of Majorca which are connected to each other. One can experience a music concert on the subterranean Lake Martel where classical musicians play from illuminated rowing boats. The lake is named after the 19th Century French speleologist Édouard-Alfred Martel.

1964: Stalactites of Aggtelek

The Aggteleki Cave  also known as Baradla Cave is a massive 26 kilometre long and located on the border areas of Hungary and Slovakia. Famous for its huge chambers, stalactites and underground concert hall.  It  may be chilly down there but is a constant 10c (50F) year round. A UNESCO World Heritage Site 

Sunday Stamps theme - Geology - visit - See It On A Postcard

Animals

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is looking for Travelling Animals

"The Champ"

This champion sheep has done a lot of travelling to agricultural shows to win its rosettes.

2014: Working Horses

Travelling around the  city. The police won't have had much need for raincoats this summer

Elephants taking a trail through a misty forest

Rivers

1965: Gorges du Tarn

The Tarn River in Southern France carving it way through limestone cliffs which tower up to 600m above it.. The gorge has a microclimate that can be hot in summer and mild in winter. A canoeist says it is a most amenable river to paddle along. 

1982: Navigation on the Danube - Danube Commission

The Danube - a  river that has been in the news in this long hot summer as it reaches record lows. The stamp show the ferry Kamzic passing under the SNP (Slovak National Uprising) Bridge, today called the New Bridge. The Kamzic was built in 1972 and could carry up to 200 passengers. It was a popular attraction for Bratislava residents but stopped operating in 2003

1970: Floating Logs - Log Driver Johan Eriksson

Timmerflotting (historic log driving) from the times past when harvested timber was floated down rivers to saw mills. The trees were cut in winter and the spring floods sent them on their watery journey. Commercial floating ended in 1991 with a final drive on the River Klaralven. 

2023: River Wildlife

An Atlantic Salmon making its epic journey from ocean to the freshwater river or stream where  it was hatched, jumping up and over weirs and waterfalls to reach their ultimate destination. But for lazy summer days for humans what could be more pleasant than sitting on a river bank and spotting a Kingfisher. The juveniles will leave home this month in search of territories of their own so there may be more opportunities to see Kingfishers in unexpected places than normal. 

Sunday Stamps theme - Rivers - See  It On A Postcard

Ships Ahoy

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt this week is travelling in Boats although I am mostly travelling in ships here -

A variety of vessles plying their trade on the Great Lakes. Clockwise from top left, the historic steam powered Willis B Boyer, a lake freighter currently operating as a museum ship in Toledo, Ohio (Lake Erie), William R Roesch self unloading Great Lakes bulk freighter  The Armco -a 1953 bulk freighter which spent decades hauling iron ore and coal. Way after this card was published it was  renamed American Valour in 2006-2018 after that it changed flags to Canadian to become the Valo and settling into its home port in St Catherines, Ontario. Indiana Harbor 1,000 foot long self unloading lake freighter. Edmund Fitzgerald a Great Lakes freighter that encountered 100mph hurricane force winds and massive waves on Lake Superior in 1975 and sank suddenly without issuing a distress signal. All 29 crew members perished. Lastly Stewart J Cort entered service in 1972 carrying iron ore for Bethlehem Steel. She has had an accident prone life but still sailing.

From working vessels to

the leisure of Cruises. The sister ships of Veendam and Volendam started life as Argentina and Brasil but were bought by the Holland American Line and refitted for cruising in 1971 making their debut in 1973

for the shipping line's centenary. Torquay serves as an occasional port of call for Holland America who tender passengers ashore to the 'English Riviera' . Long after this card of 1973 Torbay became famous for sheltering Holland America's  multiple idle ships during the 2020 pandemic pause,

RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 or QE2. Now a retired ocean liner it operated from 1969 to 2008

when in 1982 this card was posted on the high seas. Today the QE2 is an hotel and tourist attraction in Dubai.

"Colours of Brittany"

The romance of sail

Mounains in Monochrome

 

1983: Low Value Definitive Stamps

Seven Stars Crags are limestone karsts peaks rising out of Star Lake in Guangdong. The lake is 20k long. I believe the early morning golden hour is the ideal time to capture the peaks reflections in the lake. The area is also famous for its colourful caves, underground rivers and ancient stone inscriptions.

Mt Zhumulangma, the Chinese name for Mt Everest

Taishan Mountains. Mount Tai is one of China's five sacred mountains rising to an elevation of 5,069 ft (1545 metres) and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are about 7000 steps to climb to the top! Over 70 Chinese Emperors have used the stone steps,  an imperial path to ascend the mountain to perform the sacrifices to heaven and earth at the top. Emperors and their massive entourages started the ascent from the Dai Temple. While emperors walked the sacred path as a display of piety and humility they sometimes were carried in sedan chairs up the steepest sections like the 'Eighteen Bends' which lead to the mountain's summit. This single section contains contains exactly 1.633 stone steps carved directly into the mountain cliff. Pity those sedan carriers.

1979: Kluane National Park (National Park definitive series)

Kluane National Park, home of high mountains, glaziers and grizzly bears. The artist Alan C Collier travelled to southwestern Yukon to paint its rugged icy white mountain landscape. The stamp features his 'Across the Tundra'.

Sunday Stamps theme this week - Mountains - See It On A Postcard