Sheldwich, near Faversham, Kent, 1920s

Sheldwich, near Faversham, Kent, 1920s. Fortunately the ancient house is no longer a petrol station, as it was in this 1920s postcard. The road looks a bit busier these days. Notice the old lean-to used as a shop, now replaced by a fairly unobtrusive extension to the front of the house. However, if this were my house I'd demolish the extension to restore the house to how it would have looked before it was a petrol station. It is a pity the building is so close to a main road.
Postcard published by Bells series in the 1920s. Click to enlarge.

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Weybridge, Surrey, The Ship Hotel c1935 - Sepia Saturday

Weybridge, Surrey, The Ship Hotel circa 1935. Weybridge was the closest town to the Brooklands motor racing track and was a very popular destination for motoring types. There is quite a line up of motor cars outside The Ship Hotel, see detailed views below. One of the cars appears to be a road-going racer, complete with an 'on-tow' message on the back. It is not at all clear which vehicle towed it, my guess is that it got to the pub under its own steam. I hope none of the drivers of these cars drove their cars after drinking a few ales, but I think the concept of 'one for the road' was very prevalent in those days. If anyone can identify any of the cars or the motorbike I'd be very grateful. I would have loved to been at the bar when these fellows turned up, I imagine it was quite lively after a days racing at Brooklands. The Ship Hotel is still in business, but looking at the Google Street View it doesn't look quite as much fun today. This postcard was published in the mid 1930s, almost certainly by Charles Mitchell, step-brother of W. H. Applebee. Click on the images to enlarge.

Please visit Sepia Saturday for more old photographs.

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Hounslow, Middlesex, Great West Road c1955

Hounslow, Middlesex, Great West Road circa 1955. Anyone who has travelled by car from Central London to Heathrow Airport will have passed though here and will no doubt have been frustrated by the traffic lights impeding their progress every few hundred yards. Just right of center you can see an old-style police box, familiar the world over to Dr. Who fans as the Tardis. I don't know what The Doctor was doing in Great West Road in the early 1950s, but perhaps he'd stopped by to pick up some groceries before he set off on another inter-galactic journey. This postcard was published by E. A. Wilson, who was the stepson of Charles Mitchell, who was the step-brother of W. H. Applebee.

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West Byfleet, Surrey, c1912 and c1930

West Byfleet, Surrey, c1912 and c1930. The view hasn't changed much over the years, though the tree on the right has gone. The church is St. Johns, completed in 1912. The first postcard was published by W. H. Applebee in about 1912 and the second by Joseph Warren Mortimer in about 1930. Mortimer took over the WHA postcard business in about 1928, but only lasted a few years. Many of the later WHA postcards were photographed by him, but by about 1930 he changed the WHA prefix on the captions to his own initials, JWM. He lived in the same house in Ashford that Applebee's widow lived in when she was running the business. Mortimer was born in the same year as William Applebee, 1884. He died in 1955.

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Epsom, Junction of Hook Road and East Street c1913

These two photos of Epsom were taken one after the other, possibly from the same spot. The cinema was called 'Epsom Electric Theatre'. In the Hook Road postcard notice also the school children looking over the wall and the gasometer in the distance. Both postcards were published by W. H. Applebee of Ashford. There will be a different Epsom cinema postcard in tomorrow's blog post.

Hook Road today:

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East Street. You can see the cinema in the left of the picture.

 East Street today:

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Northwood, Middlesex, Church Street 1913

This splendid postcard by W. H. Applebee shows an early cinema - an original 'fleapit'. The film being advertised is Quo Vadis. There are not many of these old fleapits left now, but this one in Northwood still survives, but only just. In the Google Streetview image you can see it is very dilapidated and has become the Northwood Old Folks Dining Club. However I believe that has closed now and there are plans to demolish the cinema.

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Guildford Car Accident c1906

This car came down Great Quarry too fast (probably over the recommended 10mph) and nearly fell into the river. This is a clear lesson about the dangers of excessive speed. The postcard was very faded so I've had to do some editing to restore the image. The back of the card gives details of the accident's location and the photographer, E. W. Bradden of Guildford.

Guildford Great Quarry today:

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