Postcards collection from 1950s
A postcard collection dating back to the 1950s, featuring composite pictures of towns and villages in Sussex and across the UK, is being sold for a Chichester charity.
Every county in England is represented,bartwo–leicestershire and Rutland. There are also postcards from Scotland and Wales in the collection.
Brian Senior from Slindon started collecting the postcards at the age of 11 and continued until he went to work in South Africa at the age of 23.
He explained his father was in the Army, so they had lived in various places across the country, and had also travelled to different towns and villages on holiday.
Brian said: "Every time we went through a village, I said 'stop, I need a postcard'. My father was very good about it. In those days, there were postcards for every little village. I always went for the composite postcards."
The collection began with postcards of Rye and Battle, purchased in 1953 when Brian was living in Bexhill. The early ones were monochrome or with a brown tint. Brian's first coloured postcard was of Bexhill and even that showed only blue.
The two albums contain more than 450 composite postcards of different towns and villages throughout the
UK but mainly from the south east of England, including more than 100 of Sussex and Kent.
Brian said: "Many have plain or only pencilled references on the reverse so could still be used. They were collected between 1953 and 1964."
He said his 'very patient' father would pull up his twodoor Hillman Husky when passing through any unrepresented village for him to spend his 3d at the local stationers.
Black cats feature on many, including Elmer Sands and Felpham, being a symbol of good luck.
The postcard of Chichester features The Lock in Birdham, The Quay at Old Bosham, the Cathedral, The Cross and West Street.
Brian would like to offer the collection in return for an agreed donation to St Wilfrid's Hospice. The albums would need to be collected from Slindon and, preferably, kept together. To express an interest, call 01243 814428.