When I’m researching old postcards, it’s sometimes a struggle to identify the publisher and often difficult to find out much information about them. I was delighted to discover the amazing TuckDB Postcards, which has documented over 135,000 cards from the famous publisher. CDF 72 – Castle Coch, Near Cardiff (1959) I bought this postcard a …
I’ve been planning a series of blog posts that look at each room in Castell Coch. While I work on this I thought I’d share another postcard from my collection. This view of Lady Bute’s bedroom is from a 1967 postcard published by the Ministry of Public Building and Works. William Burges’ stencilled cabinet isn’t …
The James Valentine Collection is the photographic production of a business which began operation in 1851 in Dundee, Scotland. Although many people think of Valentine’s as postcard publishers, they produced several types of photographic products. There’s a very comprehensive history in the collection that charts the rise and fall of the business. I have quite …
Castell Coch is currently closed for its annual conservation housekeeping. The trees surrounding the castle are also undergoing some maintenance so I looked through some old postcards to see how the view has changed. This postcard was published by “The R. A. P. Co. Ltd. London. EC4.” It’s unposted but I believe it’s from between …
I have several postcards that use the same image so I thought I would research an interesting series of cards posted between 1905 and 1910. All three postcards were produced by Blum & Degen, who produced millions of cards between 1895 and 1908. The first two postcards are later versions of the first “divided backs”, …
There are lots of postcards with aerial photos of the castle in my collection and this is one of my favourites. The company who produced the image have a huge collection of photos available to view on Amgueddfa Cymru’s website. Scaffolding has been erected on the curtain wall and it looks like roof tiles were …
I was sorting through my collection recently and noticed quite a few pieces from the 1980s. Hopefully these items will bring back memories of school trips and visits during this decade.
This collection of postcards from the “Ministry of Works” and the “Ministry of Public Building and Works” were produced between 1940 and 1970. To find out more about the organisations that have cared for the castle, read my post about the official guidebooks. Further Reading
For this second instalment of “Postcards of Castell Coch”, I’ve chosen a trio of postcards featuring pencil drawings by Joyce Capon. Dating the cards is tricky because they haven’t been posted. They were printed by “William Lewis (Printers) Ltd., 43, Penarth Road, Cardiff.” Some quick research tells me that William Lewis died in 1918 but …
For this first instalment of “Postcards of Castell Coch“, I present a favourite of mine. The photo on the postcard shows a young girl playing the piano in the kitchen. This was one of my first postcard purchases and I was confused why a postcard would feature such a personal scene. I always thought postcards …
