In pictures: Postcards of Abington Park in Northamptonshire
- Published
Retired history teacher and chairman of the Northamptonshire Postcard Club, Doug Goddard has brought together postcards which show Abington Park over the years. It was opened in 1897 and includes the former village of Abington, the site of a medieval manor house. This shows the Old Cottages at Abington.
In the Edwardian period between 1901 and 1910 postcards were most often used to let friends or relatives know you had arrived at your destination safely. This postcard shows the 'Old Entrance' to the park.
Postcards were the "email or text message of their day", said Mr Goddard. In an age when there were four or five post deliveries each day, it was not unheard of for a postcard to be sent and a reply received in the same day.
It is thought several hundred postcards depicting Abington Park were produced.
Postcards were also often used to make arrangements to meet up, said Mr Goddard, who has thousands of postcodes in his collection. This postcard shows the tram terminus for Abington Park.
Mr Goddard said, although he collects postcards primarily for what is on the front, he often enjoys the messages written on the back. This one shows the bandstand at Abington Park.
For a while, Abington Park had a miniature railway installed there. Mr Goddard's said this postcard was among his favourites. He has collected them since the 1980s.
Skating on the lake at Abington Park.
Mr Goddard said: "I've always been a collector. When I was a boy, I used to collect things to do with football and then cigarette cards. And I'm interested in local history."
The Pierrots, a performance troop, at Abington Park.
Mr Goddard has brought many of the postcards together in his book Abingdon Park in Old Picture Postcards. This shows a comic-style postcard about the park at night.