Places of Interest All postcards courtesy Colin Lindzey August 2025
Far Away - And Near
Without personal transport, even local places were foreign to many villagers. The photos below are from areas we now consider to be close to Box but were often unseen by village residents. The visit of the King and Queen to Chippenham in 1919 was part of a nationwide tour of England to acknowledge the sacrifices people had made in the First World War and to honour those who had died. It was the Prince of Wales (the futire Edward VIII who undertook tours of the Dominions, where he was extremely popular).
Without personal transport, even local places were foreign to many villagers. The photos below are from areas we now consider to be close to Box but were often unseen by village residents. The visit of the King and Queen to Chippenham in 1919 was part of a nationwide tour of England to acknowledge the sacrifices people had made in the First World War and to honour those who had died. It was the Prince of Wales (the futire Edward VIII who undertook tours of the Dominions, where he was extremely popular).
Woolley Grange, Bradford-on-Avon
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Crowds greeting the King at Chippenham, 1919
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Trowbridge Church
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Abergavenny was a distant place before the Severn Bridge
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Working Holidays
It is generally accepted that the universality of the railway system enbled many people to take holidays and visit friends and family, but these postcards show a different perspective to these trips. Often, the only holiday that women-in-service enjoyed was when accompanying the mistress of the house on visits that she wanted to make - to the seaside for health or visiting relatives. For most of the time, it was just work, albeit in a different location. But there were opportunities to see different things and to share them with people back home.
It is generally accepted that the universality of the railway system enbled many people to take holidays and visit friends and family, but these postcards show a different perspective to these trips. Often, the only holiday that women-in-service enjoyed was when accompanying the mistress of the house on visits that she wanted to make - to the seaside for health or visiting relatives. For most of the time, it was just work, albeit in a different location. But there were opportunities to see different things and to share them with people back home.
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For Montague Prosser Chaffey it was part of his working life as a journeyman mason to undertake restoration work of stone buildings in situ. Sometimes it involved months away from home, staying in lodgings and working six days a week.
"X" marks the spot where I am staying
Postcards from Photos
Increased phtographic techniques and cheaper paper and printing costs led to the transfer of photographs into postcards to show views directly relevant to the sender and recipient. Many photographic studios were prepared to produce these individualised postcards and small print runs could be made for family and friends. They were a way of communicating directly at a time before telephonic communication.
The postcard below left shows the work that Montague Prosser Chaffey was doing at St Peter's Church, Lake Lock Road, Stanley, Cumbria. The image below right of a horse carriage shows him seated fourth left smoking a pipe whilst working in Truro.
Increased phtographic techniques and cheaper paper and printing costs led to the transfer of photographs into postcards to show views directly relevant to the sender and recipient. Many photographic studios were prepared to produce these individualised postcards and small print runs could be made for family and friends. They were a way of communicating directly at a time before telephonic communication.
The postcard below left shows the work that Montague Prosser Chaffey was doing at St Peter's Church, Lake Lock Road, Stanley, Cumbria. The image below right of a horse carriage shows him seated fourth left smoking a pipe whilst working in Truro.
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These were not isolated images as the photo-postcards below show.
