The Union flag flying from The Grand Hotel and Spa, Station Rise, York, 15/08/15.

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badges, British Rail, British Rail Eastern Region, coat of arms, flags, North Eastern Railway, ornamental detail, railways, Station Rise York, The Grand Hotel and Spa York, Union Flag, York

Note the badges of the North Eastern Railway under the bay window.

Not all visitors to arrive in York, I’ve noticed recently, head into town, having passed through the historic city walls, having turned into Station Rise; in fact I’m probably in the minority. Station Rise has always been, in my lifetime, home to The North Eastern Railway Memorial, dedicated to the 2236 men of the company who lost their lives in the Great War, buses coming out of George Hudson Street (named after “The Railway King” George Hudson, railway pioneer, Conservative politician, dubious businessman and debtor) and this impressive Edwardian red brick building, which is now The Grand Hotel and Spa.

A plaque, a piece of history in itself, informed me that, “This building, now the headquarters of British Rail, Eastern Region, was head office of the North Eastern Railway from 1906“. I think I’m right in saying that York became the headquarters of the Eastern Region when it amalgamated with the North Eastern Region in 1967 and ceased to exist in 1992 [but if you’re an expert in these matters, feel free to correct me], so the plaque was already something of a curiosity when I started to notice the plaque when I was a much younger man than I an today!

The badge of the York and North Midland Railway (Top), the badge of the Leeds Northern Railway (left) and the badge of the York Newcastle and Berwick Railway, which formed the North Eastern Railway in 1854.

The plaque also describes the different elements of the North Eastern Railway badge, which is one of the most noticeable ornamental details and can just be seen below the bay window in first photograph and in detail above.

Souvenirs: Penny Black Pin Badge, Bath Postal Museum, Bath, 28/04/15.

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badges, bath, Bath Postal Museum, Green Street Bath, John Palmer, letters, mail, Museums, Northgate Street Bath, Penny Black, Penny Black pin badge, postage stamps, poster, Ralph Allen, Souvenirs, Stamps, Thomas Moore Musgrave

You will find the Bath Postal Museum, if you find it at all, below stairs at the Post Office on the corner of Northgate Street and Green Street. I have mentioned this fact first because, when my sister and I arrived, I made a casual remark about having to make an effort to find the museum to one of the volunteers on duty and her reply gave me the impression that I wasn’t the first person to say that.

Three historic Bath residents revolutionised the British postal service through some significant firsts:

• Ralph Allen (born. 1693), a Cornish man who moved to Bath to take up the position of Postmaster at the age of 19, came up with the radical idea that sending all letters via London, which was what happened when the postal service was in its infancy, was a waste of time and effort. The museum guide describes the services Allen invented as the cross and bye posts, which allowed letters to travel between addresses on more direct routes.
• John Palmer, who was a native “Bathonian“, to quote from the museum guide, made the postal service even quicker by arranging the first ever mail coach run in 1784.
• Thomas More Musgrove, who became Postmaster of Bath in 1833, is thought to have been the first person to affix a stamp to a letter, The Penny Black, on the 2nd May 1840, making him the first ever person to use a postage stamp (4 days before they were officially issued).

Did you know?

The museum’s hands on displays included a stamp perforating machine [yes, believe it or not, there was a time when you had to perforate your own postage stamps] and the “Potholes and Pitfalls” mail coach board game, both of which my sister and I thoroughly enjoyed. Other interesting exhibits included a wall of post boxes and stamp machines, an educational film about the history of written communications (narrated by the late Richard Briers) and an interesting audio display about different post horns.

If you’re in the area, do call in at the Bath Postal Museum at 27 Northgate Street  or have a look at the museum’s website: http://www.bathpostalmuseum.co.uk/.

Souvenirs: Badges, The Lowry, Salford Quays, Manchester, c.2002.

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Art, Art Galleries., badges, Greater Manchester, LS Lowry, Public Transport, Salford, Salford Quays, Souvenirs, Ted, The Imperial War Museum North, The Lowry, Trams

I purchased these badges back when I thought my memory would be infallible for ever I’d never have to commit anything to writing, consequently this won’t be a very detailed description of my visit to The Lowry, but these souvenirs do bring back memories.

I arrived at Salford Quays on the tram, which was a first, despite being a regular visitor to Manchester. The trams were something of a mystery to me up to that point, so it was very exciting to see Manchester from a relatively comfortable seat, letting the tram take the strain rather!

I remember Salford looking very new and having something of a buzz about it. The Imperial War Museum’s newest branch, The Imperial War Museum North, in a shiny me building designed by architect Daniel Libeskind had recent opened opposite The Quays in Stratford for example and The Lowry had only been open two years at this point.

Most importantly, it reminds me of the works of LS Lowry, although time has left me with only a general impression of the gallery. The matchstick men plodding across urban, industrial, landscapes are there, but I also recall the landscapes, seascapes and portraits that I hadn’t seen before; his 1936 landscape “A Landmark” was a particular revelation. I seem to recall finding his 1949 work “The Cripples” rather distressing at the time, but I have subsequently come to view it as quite a striking portrayal of people who have traditionally been under-represented in art, but that’s youth for you. When I was seventeen it was relatively easy to see myself plodding across across some of Lowry’s other works, but it would take me another decade to see “The Cripples” in a different light.