Old Postcards and Photos Wanted

Nowadays, it’s unusual to get a postcard, but in the 19th and early 20th Century they were as important as emails and texts are today. While we only get one postal delivery a day, our forebears would expect up to four or five daily deliveries in towns and villages. Slater’s Directory records that in the 1860s the first post arrived in Pembridge from Leominster at 7am in the morning and the last collection was at 7.30pm. So important was the post that there were dedicated “Postman’s Paths,” giving the postie right of way across private land, to shorten the distance between homes, in what would often be a 16 mile walk each day. These were used until the 1970s when rural postmen were given vans.
The postcard was ideal for planning to meet, enquiring of the health of family and friends and announcing new arrivals, betrothals, and deaths. Consequently, millions of postcards were printed and sent each year. They often showed photos or drawings of local scenes and many of these contained scenes of Pembridge and the surrounding area. Some of them may be stuffed in albums or drawers in your home. We would love to see them and photograph them so that we can build up a digital library of scenes of Pembridge past. 
We are also keen to share photos of more recent events, such as the Coronation Tea, Church Nature Walk and Platinum Jubilee Celebrations.
If you have postcards or photos depicting life in Pembridge,which you are willing to share, please do get in touch so we can copy them and preserve this part of our history for future generations. Email portraitofpembridge@yahoo.co.uk or call Barry on 07711 406306.

Kay Ingram

June 2023