A Postcard from the recreation ground

This card is another recent acquisition at Market Lavington Museum.

The Church from the Recreation Ground – possibly Edwardian

Market Lavington’s recreation ground used to be the field behind what is now Shires Close. It was clearly used heavily for football – the goal mouth area is very worn. The flock of lawnmowers (sheep, of course) are making sure that the field’s grass is kept under control.

Colour in this picture is, of course, artist added and may not always be a close representation of reality but certainly where plants survive in the old ‘rec’ it looks to be a floral area of grassland.

Behind the recreation ground we can see, at the left, Meadow Cottage under what appears to be rather mossy thatch. The other house below the church is Spring Villa.

Further round and under the spreading cedar tree we can pick out the tiled roof of the village school which is now, of course, The Old School

This is a high summer image. The pollarded trees which form the perimeter of the church land are in full leaf and a young man enjoys a siesta amongst the flowers on the rec.

A Walton’s Series card

This card was never posted but we note it is in Walton’s series. Mr Walton owned the department store in Market Lavington.

Printed in Belgium

It is also interesting to note that the card was printed in Belgium. It is a cheap card. The board is very thin – hardly more than paper. Mr Walton would have been selling in competition with Mr Burgess and no doubt sought to be as cheap as possible.

Advertisement

Playing Cards

Some folks refer to playing cards as ‘the devil’s picture book’. But mostly they are, or have been, a perfectly harmless amusement. There are so many different games that can be played. Some are pure luck, some require speed of hand and others need some mental dexterity. They surely, of themselves are not devilish.

We have recently acquired a couple of packs of cards of some antiquity. The first, in a damaged box is described as ’Rufford Playing Cards’. They were sold by Boots and similar packs were made and marketed between 1930 and 1955

Rufford Playing Cards – probably 60 or more years old and now at Market Lavington Museum

The cards, which had belonged to a Canada Rise family, are in remarkably good condition considering they are at least 58 years old.

The backs of the cards have a classical design.

The face sides are very standard, with the joker and the ace of spades of interest.

These cards certainly make an interesting addition to our collection of pastimes from past times.

St Mary’s in Colour

At Market Lavington Museum we must have thirty or so different postcards of St Mary’s Church. They show views of the church, inside and out, from many different viewpoints throughout much of the 20^th century.

We have just been given a copy of another – as seen below.

1909 hand tinted image of Market Lavington Church from the Recreation Ground

We think this image dates from about 1909. We have another card at the museum, clearly in the same series, which was posted in that year. We cannot be certain it is 100% accurate, for these coloured images were hand painted over black and white photos.

The picture is taken from what was then the recreation ground and it is seen complete with a goal and also the grass cutters (sheep) are well in evidence. We guess the photo was taken by Mr Burgess and he’d have organised the lad to add interest to his shot. The church looks very much the same, 100 years on, but the avenue of pollarded trees alongside the path up to the church looks very full.

In the foreground we can see Meadow Cottage and Spring Villa below the church. Further to the right the top of the cedar tree at The Old House shows up. That tree is still there. Just below it is the roof of what was then Market Lavington School – now The Old School.

We’d like to thank former Market Lavington and Easterton resident, John, for this image. John is still local and lives in Littleton Panell.