Past Stations

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt - Architecture - Stations (train, bus or airport) 

Liverpool Exchange opened in May 1850. it had five platforms with an overall roof for "the comfort of passengers"  By the 1870s traffic had increased so much it was eventually expanded in 1888 and opened in its new form. Exchange consisted of this grand hotel frontage behind which was a covered cab road, further buildings provided offices, booking and waiting facilities. It now had 10 platform faces protected by gabled roofs. The station closed in 1977 and trains were diverted to the new underground link line. The card was sent in 1903.

In contrast - Redmire Station in the snow.  Once the terminus of the Wensleydale Railway, unfortunately the track has deteriorated and at the moment the platform and car park are being used as en engineering base to re-lay the line The station building (once the station masters house, booking hall and waiting room) has been owned by the 2nd Acomb Scouts Group since 1988 taking the name of Redmire Station House Activity Centre, a hostel for use by families and youth groups with cycling and walking routes straight from the door into the Yorkshire Dales. 

Broad Gauge engine in Bristol's old Temple Meads Station. Brunel's Great Western Railway was built using broad gauge which would lead to the Gauge Wars as the rest of Britain largely adopted standard gauge. The tracks at Temple Mead were then converted to mixed gauge. The postcard artist John G Norris shows Post Office Station Staff transferring mail at Bristol Old Temple Mead Station around 1892.

 

As an added bonus there is a special cancel for the departure of the Orient Express from Temple Meads Station in 1985 as part of the Great Western Railway's 150th anniversary celebrations

Palaces

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt - Architecture - Palaces

The monumental Winter Palace in St Petersburg, the former main residence of the Russian royal family on the south bank of the Neva River. Today of course it is part of the Hermitage Museum complex.

 

The Royal Palace of Aranjuez one of the official residences of the Spanish royal family. It looks a wonderful entrance into the square for high stepping horses. There is a museum on the ground floor and the rooms and gardens are open to the public.

Church Towers

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt this month is Architecture, today - Churches

For those experiencing summer heatwaves here is a cool snowy view of Ulverston Parish Church, Cumbria. The tower was rebuilt in 1540 when the old one was destroyed in a gale.

.In the 13th Century as part of a modernisation of All Saints Church in Bakewell a tower and spire were built over the main body of the church. It became apparent in the 18th Century that the tower and spire were too heavy for the stonework and the spire started to crack. It was removed in 1825 and a new tower and spire built which we see today.

St Anna in the town of Verl, Westphalia. An east tower was a novelty at the time when it was built in 1792 as traditionally they would be built on the west side.

Lines

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt for Lines

The old half-timbered houses of Vannes, Brittany

Lines in the sand.   On the reverse of the card - "The mysterious and eternal sand dunes of Lake Michigan reflect and shadow the light of the afternoon sun. Ever constant, ever changing in form and beauty, the dunes provide a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere."

 

In contrast the hard lines of a railway crossing at Darley Dale (Church Lane Crossing) near Matlock, Derbyshire. The card shows the  Flying Scotsman visiting the heritage railway, Peak Rail, in August 2000.

Curves

See It On A Postcard's  Thursday Postcard Hunt for shapes - Curves

2021: Lockdown Birds

A curvaceous bird. During Jersey's first Covid Lockdown in 2020 Berni Martin set herself a project to paint a bird every day. Using a box of paints girted to her by a friend she painted on 100 consecutive days sharing these cute little characters on social media. A selection appeared on Jersey Post's stamps in 2021.

It was especially glorious weather in the British Isles for the first lockdown. The traffic stilled and the birds sang their songs into the air.

The Domes of the Eden Project in Cornwall. The site was an old clay pit. It opened in 2000 and fully opened in 2001.. The largest biome houses a rain-forest and the other is a Mediterranean environment. Botanical gardens with plants for temperate climates are outside, the paths curving amongst them. Cornwall has a mild maritime climate influenced by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream and has  micro-climates ranging from tropical-like gardens to misty moorlands.

Majestic

 

1965: Birds

Its that time of year when ones mind turns to holidays. Perhaps a trip to Malaysia where the locals might point out a Murai Gajah (Asian Fairy Bluebird) on a tree.

 

1994: Malaysian Airlines inaugural flight cover

 Fly out of Malaysia to Buenos Aires to dance the tango under a moonlit Brazilian sky.  Where next? 

 

Travel back in time to the 1950s and the Hotel Majestic in Acapulco, Mexico

 

 

A sea view from their rooms

 

Definitive 1950s: Architecture and Archaeology 

 

Buy a Michoacan Mask as a memento although a lot of these dance masks look very scary.

 

 

Catch some sport at the Mexico City University Stadium. Built in 1952, at the time the largest stadium in Mexico. It is now called the Olympic Stadium after hosting the 1968 Summer Olympics

1969: Tourism

Enjoy visiting the Pyramids in the ancient city of Teotihuacan (place of the gods).  Not built by the Aztecs or Mayans but an ancient race, origins unknown.

  

Sunday Stamps A-Z for Mexico, Malaysia and Majestic - See It On A Postcard 

North America

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is visiting cities in North America

The impressive Union Station in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The beaux art building of  local limestone opened in 1911. It was designed by the same architects as Grand Central Station in New York. The wide road with electric tram and waiting horse drawn carriages connect travellers to the city.

Lincoln was founded in 1856 as the village of Lancaster and later renamed after Abraham Lincoln, it became the state capital in 1869. My sender likes this part of the city with its old factories that are now apartments, stores and restaurants and says "This is a great place to 'people watch' in the warmer months" I like old signage on buildings, this factory and warehouse. was built for  Harpham Bros Harness and Saddle Factory, a thriving business in the early 20th Century.

Northern Europe

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is visiting the cities of Northern Europe

St Petersburg and The Bronze Horseman (Peter the Great). The statue is mounted on the massive Thunder Stone originally weighing 1500 tonnes which was carved down during transportation to its current size of 1,250 tonnes.  Noticing the woman in white I discovered that Alexander Gardens is a popular place for wedding photos.  Lots of background interest for the photographer including the red lighthouse just making it onto the postcard. This is one of a pair on the Neva River that once guided ships into the port, the bowl on the top was filled with oil and lit. Today they are supplied with gas and only lit on special occasions. Technically they are called rostral columns and decorated with nautical images and have statues at the bottom. Russia Beyond shows them in all their glory.

 The main square in Krakow, the text translates as Old Town Market Square. The Cloth Hall is a renaissance era market hall. The gothic church is St Mary's Basilica.

South

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt for Cities in Southern Europe

Night falls in Toledo which is surrounded on three sides by the Tagus River. The Alcazar fortification dominates the highest part of the city, always a useful location if under siege, as has happened in past.  The cathedral occupies the other high point.

Arezzo in Tuscany described a destination for "culture without the crowds". The view is of the arcades of Via Roma, a covered shopping street. A  welcome cafe-bar beckons in the distance to rest those tired tourist feet. 

Berlin

 

1988: European City of Culture

Welcome to Berlin. Lets take an armchair walk, distance will be no problem,

1978: Berlin Views (2nd series)

to  the Belvedere Castle in Charlottenburg Palace Gardens, originally used as a summer house/tea-house and observation tower. Today it houses the world's largest collection of porcelain. On to the medieval, much altered, village church at Lichtenrade right next to Berlin's largest village pond.

The 10 Kilometre Landwehr Canal which "cuts through the heart of Berlin like a green ribbon". A popular area to relax. This January it froze over so skating was an added leisure opportunity.

1978: Woodland Flowers

The flowers of Solomon's seal, primrose, hellebore and bugle to be seen in the western part of Berlin in the Grunewald Forest. A big green space (3000 hectares) where it is easy to forget you are in a metropolis of millions.

Sunday Stamps A-Z here for B for Berlin, Belvedere and bugle - See It On A Postcard

Old and New Cities

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is visiting the cities of Asia

AI tells me this is Qiwang Hall in Jingshan Park a scenic area near the Forbidden city. It sits at the bottom of Jingshan Hill (also called Longevity Hill), the highest part of Beijing and from where one can have extensive views of the Forbidden City. Sent, as can be seen, on the 7th December 1908 to Belgium (via Siberia) arriving on the 26th December in Brussels with its Happy Christmas message.

I've used this view of Singapore before when we doing aerial views but needs must, I couldn't find anything else.

Sun Light

See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt starting the year with Light and sunshine

"Sun with Huge Prominence"

The star that gives life (if you are on a planet 93 million miles away), a sphere of hot plasma. This ultraviolet photograph of the sun was taken on the 19th December 1973 during NASA's  third Skylab mission.

"Birches" - Hannu Hautala

Meanwhile on Earth in the depths of a Finnish winter when daylight is brief it gives us this magical image.

"The Tower and the Fountain" Robert Fouseau

Pisa, where the sun is warmer and the photographer does not suffer as much for his art to capture the sun's rays.

"Dove Cottage", Grasmere, Lake District

Sunlight and dappled shade. Once the home of William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy. When William married Mary his family would expand even more which meant that eventually they all had to move to larger lodgings and leave their sojourn of "plain living but high thinking" behind. Today it is  museum.

Étel River

 On a tiny islet of Nichtarguer on the Ria d'Etel is a much photographed little house bathed in sunshine.

Millennium Blue

1999: Millennium - The Traveller's Tale (Design - George Hardie)

 Into the blue with Millennium stamps - Jetting around the world

2000: Millennium - Water and Coast

Take the maritime route at Portsmouth Harbour

2000: Millennium - People and Place

Cross over the Gateshead Millennium Bridge spanning the River Tyne

2000: Millennium - Art and Crafts

Visit Tate Modern, 20th Century art and beyond, housed in what was the Bankside Power Station

1999: Millennium - The Patient's Tale (Design - Susan Macfarlane)

Sometimes unexpected things happen, lets hope it does not involve nurses and stretchers.

2002: Peter Pan (Illustrator - Colin Shearing)

or pirates.

Sunday Stamps theme - Blue - See It On A Postcard 

Not Here

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is asking what place you would not like to visit

I have been to Russia and enjoyed it but a country I would avoid today, I would not wish to support a war criminal. The card is of Uljanousk located on the Volga River. The birthplace of Lenin

Mortar Platoon

The Middle East is off my list too, not only for their treatment of women but who knows when one might be bombed by Israel. The card shows the British 1st Battalion King's Own Royal Border Regiment in Jordan, October 2001. The Middle East is also in the mess it is with the meddling of too many countries in the past from outside the region. Jordan from the outside seems to be one of the more progressive and stable countries and I would like to see the rose red city of Petra so might make an exception for visiting.

I have never felt the urge to visit the seaside resort of  Hunstanton on the Norfolk coast in summer.  Looks like standing room only.

Entrances

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt starts the month with the theme 'Details' - Architecture

Hahnetor Gate, Cologne

Here is where once kings entered Cologne on the way to the cathedral after being crowned in Aachen. Of Cologne's 12 medieval gateways three have been preserved. Hahnetor Gate stands at the west of the city on Rudolfplatz 

The main portal of Bern Minster considered one of the finest examples of Gothic sculpture in Switzerland and the only statues of the cathedral to survive the iconoclasm of the Protestant Reformation. Above the doors is the Last Judgment. The figures to the left of the door represent the five Foolish Virgins, the ones to the right are the Wise Virgins. In the centre - Justice. (Wikipedia has a photo of the rather more glitzy gold painted details).

Patriarchal Basilica St John Lateran, Rome

 The fancy facade of the Archbasilica of St John Lateran constructed by Alessandro Galilei although at the time (1733-35) the "monumental severity and palace character of the facade caused a scandal in Roman artistic circles" others did not take the same view and by the end of the century its neoclassical beauty was admired.