Historic Christmas postcards showcase Bourne in times gone by

Festive postcards featuring town centre images have been uncovered more than a century after they were written.

John Kelby was looking through his late mother’s belongings when he found the old Bourne postcards.

The first is a scene of South Street. It was posted in Peterborough to an address in Brighton on December 23, 1905 and reads: “Wish you a happy Xmas and a bright new year when it comes. With love from Elsie.”

The second postcard shows South Street and Market Place. It was posted in Nottingham on Christmas Eve, 1906 to an address in Uffington. It reads: “Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a bright new year. Notts does look nice and plenty of folks about.”

The postcards were kept in an album belonging to John’s mother Marjorie, who was born in Northorpe and lived there for most of her life. She died in 2013.

John, who lives in Deeping St James, said: “The contents of the album show that with a reliable postal service and two deliveries a day, postcards were used like texts are now, for example “arriving at Thurlby station on the 3:12 tomorrow”.

“The Christmas and new year greetings are very recognisably Bourne.”