It's always sunny in Silsden

The Howden Gill is a winding stream in Yorkshire. The only hit on it is from a site called Yorkshire Walks, and it is marked on the postcard "Silsden". Silsden was apparently a very important town, especially in the era of mills, but also boasts the world's largest onion and a 1st century coin hoard.
It is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, so it would seem the place has been there quite a while.

This postcard was written and sent half a decade before the start of the First World War, during the height of the 'Golden Age', and sent to Morecombe, a popular vacationing spot (especially for people living in the North, and Scotland).

The front of the card reads, "Howden Gill Silsden".

                                                                               
The reverse is addressed to "Mr. Russell, c/o Miss Dawson 39 Clarendon Rd Morecombe WC"
and says, " Dear Friends we shall be pleased to see you & will meet the bus, off that train, hope you will have better weather. Yours truly Mrs Tillot."

 Postmarked 19 August, 1909.

Merry (belated) Christmas

If only these could be scanned in a calendar-appropriate order, life would be grand. But that's not how they show up, so they're posted as they appear. The hundred-year-old paper holding them is falling apart, so often they are hanging about in boxes, waiting to be scanned.

This one features the epitome of the Edwardian lady...ostrich plume, extravagant hat (thanks, Lily Elsie!)and wrapped in an ermine scarf and carrying a matching ermine purse. That's a LOT of ermine (which are really quite small while still wearing their own coats).

Puzzlingly, she is holding an umbrella, but that could just be a Canadian view of things: generally, snow here is a little more than an umbrella could handle.

Nonetheless, it's a charming card, worthy of not for the sweeping Beaux Arts font alone.

No inscription or postmark, undated.

The Golden Era

The glowing ease of the "Golden Era", which would come to a crashing end just four years later. A quick postcard about a lovely holiday, and a life of relative ease
.

Though you know, no antibiotics yet, so probably not all that great after all.

 

"Dear Elsie, Edna thanks you very much for your pretty PC [postcard]. Edna is having a happy time. Hoping you are well & enjoying your holidays. Love & kisses from Edna and her mother."

postmarked 19 July, 1910.

Otley from the Chevin

It seemed like a wild guess as to what language the caption was in- originally, "Olley" was in the running, and might have been plausible as it was in France, where a number of other cards are from.
However, the deciphering of "the Chevin" was the key. The Chevin is the name given to the ridge on the south side of Wharfedale in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, overlooking the market town of Otley.
According to the wiki:
"Otley's name is derived from Othe, Otho or Otta, a Saxon personal name and leah, a woodland clearing in Old English. It was recorded as Ottanlege in 972 and Otelai or Othelia in the Domesday Book of 1086.^[2][3] The name Chevin has close parallels to the Welsh term Cefn meaning ridge and may be a survival of the ancient Cumbric language."

At the time of this postcard, Otley would have been mostly mills: wool and paper, with printing being one of the main industries.

Lily Elsie - the Edwardian's plumed hat lady

Part of the fun of looking at the old postcards is in their ability to provide a snapshot of an era. Sometimes, it's just that- a snapshot, that leads to investigation of a particular show or star or place, that tells us a lot about what was going on.

In this postcard, it is of the famed Lily Elsie. It is a toss up in this collection of who is more popular, she or Gladys Cooper. Both feature very prominently in postcard photographs of the period. Lily Elsie was hugely popular starting around 1907, but retired in 1911, only resurfacing for the 'war effort' productions of WW1.

She died in 1962.
(For a great site dedicated to Lily Elsie, please visit www.lily-elsie.com.)

This postcard is actually headed to Morecambe (from Leeds), instead of the other way round. Change is a good as a rest.

"6/6/17
1 Firth Grove Beeston Leeds
Dear Elsie, Thanks ever so much for the PC [postcard] received. Hope you are having a good time& that you are feeling better. Hope you are having nice weather. Love from Doris"