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Postcards of snow

Posted in This months highlight on 01 Feb 2015

Postcards are often dismissed as ephemera and not always given the credit they deserve. Admittedly, modern postcards are often mass produced and not always very interesting, but early editions were quite different. They can be hand drawn images or photographs as well printed material. 

Amongst the personal papers of Mrs Ayres held here at the BRO, are a large quantity of such postcards (ref. D/EX1638/63-67). They mostly cover the Reading area. The ones selected here provide a snapshot of what Reading was like under snow in the early 1900s. Rather fitting for the current climate we are experiencing. 

The one on the left is of boys in Coley Hill looking onto Castle Hill. The tram is on the Bath Road and the sheep are in Prospect Park. Street scenes like these can help us to picture what it was like for our ancestors living in Berkshire. They are also rather nice to look at. !