Friday 29 March 2013

High Newton-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, c1910

High Newton-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, circa 1910. I bought this postcard a couple of years ago because I thought it would make a nice study for this blog. The postcard is unused, the only writing on the back is 'J. C. Ruddock, Alnwick' - presumably the publisher or photographer. A few minute's research on the Internet reveals that John Candlik Ruddock was indeed a photographer and shopkeeper in the 1901 and 1911 censuses. So far so good. However finding the location on the front of the postcard was another matter. Alwick is in Northumberland and I found two villages called Newton in that county, both about 20 miles from Alnwick. I trudged around them for ages in Google Street View, but found nothing that looked like my postcard. At that point I gave up and consigned the postcard to my large pile of postcards with unidentified locations. By chance I found the postcard again the other day and thought I've have another go at locating it. Looking at the map I discovered there were two villages about five miles from Alnwick called High Newton-by-the-Sea and Low Newton-by-the-Sea. A few minutes of virtual wandering around led me to the Joiners Arms in High Newton-by-the-Sea and I recognised the distinctive gables of the white building in the centre of the postcard and the pub on the right. It is not clear from the postcard if the pub was a pub at that time. The building on the left was a post office in the postcard's time, now it is a private house. There is a little bit about High Newton-by-the-Sea and a tiny picture on the BBC's website.
Click the postcard (and the detail below the Street View) to enlarge.
For more old images have a look at this week's Sepia Saturday blog.



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11 comments:

  1. Great detective work! It's funny but some days finding things in the past is much easier than other days, or at least that's my experience. :)

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  2. ...........and I bet those are kippers in the boxes!!

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  3. An attractive scene and bravo on the identification, Howard. The Joiner's Arms is quite close to the sea and there is a wonderful castle ruin just a short walk to the east. No Street View but some still photos will pop up if one drags the person icon onto the map. I'll have to remember to stop in someday as it looks like a pleasant seaside walk.

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  4. Other than a new traffic pattern, things haven't changed much. I'm glad you decided to pull out that photo again even though it had been frustrating the first time. That should be a good lesson for all of us -- sometimes in our research we confound ourselves but if we just put that photo or document aside for awhile, we can come back to it fresh and clear-thinking.

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  5. This my kind of scene - not just a view of fine stone houses, but a family to boot. Although it's difficult to be sure, because the resolution of the image/photo is not great enough to see detail of the clothing, I get the distinct feeling that the photograph was taken a good deal earlier than the c.1910 publishing date quoted. It has a feel to it very similar to that of a cabinet card view of a small village in Norfolk from the 1880s that I featured on Photo-Sleuth a few years ago.

    Like Lisa and Wendy, I'm grateful that you rediscovered this in your archive. I too often have greater success on the second or third try.

    The geology of the headland around Newton-by-the-Sea looks interesting, so I think I'll have to join Mike for that walk some day.

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  6. From the modern Google picture it almost looks as though the pub is no longer a pub - other than the name on the wall there seems to be a lack of normal pub signes etc, and no parked cars. But I googled it and it would appear to be still going strong.

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  7. I always like your before and after pictures. I did one this week too. I would appreciate if you could tell me how you insert your google picture, instead of the cut and paste/crop that I do.

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  8. This is one of the best cards that you have shown us with great detail. I know Alnwick but not much af the area round about. Must go there soon.

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  9. Great find! You give me hope to try again. :)

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  10. Well done for both the purchase and the detective work.

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