Long and Curvy

 See It on A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt looking for long and curvy bridges

PHQ Card - 2015: Bridges

The Peace Bridge curves and snakes over the River Foyle joining the two communities of Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland and opened in 2011.  The Protestant Unionists on the east bank will refer to the city as Londonderry and the Catholic nationalists on the west side as Derry.  The BBC gets around this problem in their news broadcasts by always referring to it as Derry/Londonderry.  The bridge however has been a great success, becoming a beloved part of the city and it features in New Year and numerous other celebrations. Even the Dalai Lama has visited and walked across it.

Now travelling by postcard over the water to the city that is sometimes jokingly called 'the second capital of Ireland', Liverpool. Many of those emigrants from Ireland may have worked on the building of  its Overhead Railway and definitely worked in the docks.

Liverpool Overhead Railway Poster

As well as carrying millions of passengers Liverpool's overhead railway was a tourist attraction, this poster from the the 1930s invites a visit for "unrivaled views of Dockland Shipping"

Originally opened in 1893 it was the first overhead railway in the world to be operated by electricity. Rather ironically one of the factors of its eventually decline was due to the corrosion of the corrugated iron decking caused by the steam operated Docks Railway plying its trade underneath some of the sections.  The cost of repair was too much and it closed in 1956.  Once known as the  'Dockers Umbrella' its 7 miles (11km) was demolished in 1957/8.  I have two photo cards of the railway but only this one has a postbox. Spot it near the link bridge.

France from Above

 

1951: Architecture - Buildings (Pic du Midi de Bigorre)

High in the French Pyrenees is the Pic du Midi Observatory which concentrates on looking to the skies but also has  a spectacular view of the Pyrenees from its elevation of 2,877 m (9,439 ft). One can visit by a series of cable cars eventually leading to a panorama terrace and it also promises "suspended above the void a 12 metre metal footbridge with a glass end skims the clouds with a vertiginous view". I might be heading for the observatory dome instead. Being France of  course there is also a panoramic restaurant with local cuisine.

1949-50: Cityscapes

Or how about a city break in Lille. The largest belfry in France can be seen on the stamp. Once you have climbed the first 109 steps there is a choice of a lift to the full 104 metres or continue to walk up to enjoy the panorama of the city at the top. There is a massive annual flea market in the city called the Braderie de Lille  which happens to be next weekend (14th September), I love a flea markets, for this one comfortable walking shoes and a large bag are recommended.

1949; Views - Les Andelys, Seine Valley

On a hill dominating the scene is the 12th Century Chateau Gaillard built by Richard the Lionheart which controlled the Seine valley in his battle against the French king. In today's more peaceful times there is an annotated view point up by the castle.

1954: Views

After all those quests for aerial views maybe its time to relax on the beach at Royan.

Sunday Stamps theme this week is - aerial views - See It On A Postcard

Stone Bridges

See It On a Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is crossing bridges and today mine are sturdy stone ones

Culbone Lodge Pottery, Exmoor

This inherited card has a fine postmark which  shows me it was posted on the 29th May 1985, all that is missing is a stamp!  The people who had not affixed a stamp were my aunt and uncle who were enjoying a walking holiday in Exmoor and possibly the reason they chose this card is because the inscription on the back describes the many paths that can be taken to Culbone Lodge. The sandstone building was constructed in the late 19th century in an arts and crafts style, the adjoining bridge crosses over a sunken roadway.  

The card's inscription also says the picture shows the pottery, house and garden display of pots with Waistel and Joan Cooper and their tame ducks. These names meant nothing to me but discovered Waistel Cooper was a renowned potter. Even better I discovered the Culborne newsletter article "Secluded Culborne" which has a paragraph about them - "Two of Culbone’s best known inhabitants were Joan and Waistel Cooper. Joan, an American, with a Doctorate in Psychology married Waisel a potter in 1957 and they lived in a cottage in Culbone by a stream. Joan practised and taught Yoga for West Somerset Community Education. She was also a Lay Reader. She died on June 2nd 1982 and was buried in the little church’s cemetery. The whole area was packed for her funeral and a little dog sat by the edge of her grave during the service. Waistel, born in 1921 in Ayr, was instrumental in the introduction of modernism into ceramics and was a major figure of the studio pottery scene. He set up in Culbone on his return from a commission in Iceland and worked in his studio there for 25years. Following Joan’s death he moved to Penzance in Cornwall and remarried. He died in 2003. His work commanded very high prices"

Travelling north to the England's most northerly town, although not in the period when it was part of Scotland. The last time it changed hands it was in 1482 and despite the border change today the football and rugby teams play in the Scottish leagues.  

Top  - the 'Old Bridge' which replaced a wooden one in the 17th Century when I suppose it was just called Berwick Bridge // Royal Tweed Bridge or the 'New Bridge' built in the 1920s but as it is built of concrete it is an interloper in this post

Bottom - The Royal Border Bridge and as I am a fan of railway viaducts here are more pictures of Robert Stephenson's bridge

Watendlath Bridge in Winter

One of the many packhorse bridges in the English Lake District crosses the stream in the little hamlet of Watendlath. I remember people ice skating on the nearby tarn but we rarely get those sort of winters anymore. The bridge is from the 18th Century but

Coniston Foxhounds on Sweden Bridge, Ambleside

Sweden Bridge is 17th Century packhorse bridge but  isn't Swedish as the name comes from the Middle English word 'swidden'/Old Norse 'svithinn'.  I see there are two lakeland terriers that have joined the hounds in this bridge photo-shoot.  Foxhunting in the Lake District was done on foot (not a horse in sight), but in the present time after a long battle foxhunting with dogs is banned in Britain.  The hounds have never gone away for a popular countryside pastime for a couple of centuries in the Lakes is Hound Trailing. The dogs race a scented trail over the fells.

Food

1953: Food Production

Wheat is Australia's biggest grain crop

 but I have never associated Australia with butter however they produce many varieties of cheese

1989: Food and Farming Year

but possibly not the 700+ varieties the cheese loving UK like to tuck into and then there is the addition of imported cheeses. Never far away from a cheese board.  Like all things moderation is recommended in a diet (not easy)

1976: Healthy Eating

although one can eat unlimited amounts of fruit and veg.

2003: Christmas at Sundborn.

Start the day with a hearty breakfast This is called 'Martina with breakfast tray' a detail of a painting by Carl Larsson most loved by Swedes for his watercolours of  family life around his home and garden Sundborn  (now a museum). His muse was his wife Karin who had also trained as an artist but turned her talents to textile and interior design along with raising eight children.

Sunday Stamps theme -Food - come to the table at See It On A Postcard

Needlework

See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is looking for creativity  in crafts, fabric art and textiles

Man's informal cap (Satin with embroidered pattern and silk tassels)

There was once an advertising slogan from the days when people always wore hats that said "If you want to get ahead get a hat" and this one worn today would certainly get you noticed. A postcard from an exhibition of 'Imperial Chinese Robes from the Imperial City' with objects loaned from the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Detail of costume for the Prince in L'Oiseau d'or worn by Nijinsky

Of course ballet is all about the bling and here the tunic worn by Nijinsky in 1910 when The Firebird was first performed in Paris (June 1910). Designed by Leon Bakst it is a short sleeved tunic of old gold silk, embroidered with ovals and silk circles, with jersey inner sleeves set with metal studs and a cream panel embroidered with flowers and rose ending in a drop pearl. Created in St Petersberg. When Baskst settled in Paris in 1910 he found his preferred costume maker Mme Muelle with whom he worked with on his productions for Diaghilev and Ida Rubinstein until his death in 1924. Bakst created vibrant stage sets so he would appreciate

Detail 'Trojan War' tapestry, Turnai, 1475-90 Wool and silk woven tapestry

one of the most spectacular examples of those Medieval tapestries which survive, The War of Troy was created in Tornai, a place that has experienced many wars and has been part of  France, Southern Netherlands and recently Belgium.  A huge tapestry, the postcard shows a detail of Queen Penthesilea and King Priam.

Shepherd and Shepherdess (1741) Lady Lever Art Gallery - Embroidered in silks and seed pearls

On a more domestic scale, and unlike the unknown makers of the Trojan war tapestry the card says this was "worked by Eliz. Tole" I'm guessing she wisely embroidered her name somewhere.

Colours

 

2012: 225th Birth Anniversary - Joseph on Fraunhofer

Jospeph Faunhfer was the inventor of the spectroscope and in 1814 discovered the optical absorption solar spectrum. Today the lines are named after him - Fraunhofer lines.  The stamp is his spectrum of the sun.

2016: Northern Lights

We are going through a period of high solar activity

so it is a good opportunity to see the northern lights. So far I have have missed them all!  I wonder what the Northern Lights look like to other fauna

2015: Flowers - Festive Bouquet

who perceive ultraviolet light and see a very different world of colour.  Interestingly no two species see the world in the same colours.  Bees perceive ultraviolet light but are as blind to red as humans are to UV light (human eye receptors are sensitive to red)

2003: Post - Rural House Postbox

This spectrum blindness is no impediment to bees when they occasionally decide to set up home in a postbox.  This one is bee free although happily the flowers will not be.

Sunday Stamps theme - colours - See It On A Postcard

Sculped

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

Walking Woman (1984) bronze - Lynn Chadwick

Walking Woman, combining the abstract with figurative, was a theme that Lynn Chadwick returned to in many variations. This card is from a temporary exhibition of his work at Blackwell (a 19th century art and crafts house) which, as can be seen, overlooks a lake (Winderemere). Here his woman with her billowing cape could be looking at the view or gliding towards it.

The Horse is a Noble Animal - Marcia Farquhar

The performance artist Marcia Farquhar lives the dream and rides a life sized rocking horse she imagined as a child. This was part of the Tatton Park Contemporary Art Biennial which takes place in both the mansion, the formal gardens and the deer park; combine a walk with art what could be better. Unfortunately I did not see Marcia ride her horse but she has provided context  here.

Winter Bears (1988) Polychromed wood - Jeff Koons

Not a big fan of Jeff Koons but I couldn't resist this card. Winter Bears was a series of sculptures created for Koons based on  children's miniature ornaments. The craftsmen employed the same techniques used to produce rococo ceramics and Bavarian wood carving. I've not seen them but the card tells me they are 124cm (4 ft) high which I guess makes them a little bit scary or maybe I've seen too many Dr Who episodes when things like these come to life, and not in a good way.