'Wish you were here' - Do we still send postcards?

Postcards were introduced to Britain in 1870, according to the Postal Museum

The UK's last surviving postcard business is hopeful of a renaissance for an industry which had been on the decline but has found new fans at festivals.

According to the Postal Museum, the postcard was created in 1870 as a means of cheap, quick communication.

With the passage of time and advent of digital forms of communication, a once relied-upon method has become more of a novelty.

But according to Judges Postcards in Hastings, the demand is still there - and potentially increasing.

Fred Judge founded Judges Postcards in Hastings in 1902

Graeme Wolford, who runs Judges Postcards with his brother Trevor, said people do still buy postcards - "three million of them a year".

While this is significantly fewer than the 800 million postcards sent per year between the 1870s and the end of King Edward VII's reign in 1910, he said it is not indicative of a completely ailing industry.

Retro appeal

The appeal of the postcard is not lost on those those born in the age of technology, according to Mr Wolford.

"If you go to Glastonbury, there is actually a postcard, pop-up marquee where you can go and write a postcard, and it's increasingly happening at more and more festivals," he said.

"The young people are saying 'come on, I send enough texts, enough WhatsApp messages, let's make someone's day and send them a postcard'."

Judges Postcards was founded in 1902 by keen photographer Fred Judge, who moved his family down to Hastings from Wakefield in West Yorkshire.

Trevor Wolford is proud to be the last "family-run" postcard business nationwide.

"In its heyday there were around seven or eight companies around the UK - we are the last ones standing," he said.

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