"Once in a lifetime" postcard collection goes under the hammer in Sheffield

The single owner collection was put together by Tim Hale of the Sheffield Postcard Co over the past 50 years and goes under the hammer at Sheffield Auction Gallery on Thursday April 22.

This sale represents part two of his collection, with the first part covering Sheffield, having been sold at auction in September 2019.

Catalogued mainly following a topographical format, the postcards run from Ashbourne to Willington and all places in between. Sheffield Auction Gallery said the postcards ‘cover many aspects of social and rural history, they also capture a snapshot of a bygone age.’The history of the boundaries between Derbyshire and Yorkshire have been a subject of heated debate and change over the last 100 years, and the collection covers the historical theme of areas such as Dore, where it was often commented that folk moved from Derbyshire to Yorkshire without moving house.

Traditionally postcards were often printed in small runs, capturing unique moments in history and were used to send local messages between friends and family.

It is the picture on the card that creates the main interest with modern collectors, but postcards are a story of two sides.One special card in the collection captures that idea with huge emotion.A card from 1912 covering the construction of the Ladybower dams, in itself interesting, it has the following message written on the reverse side: “Dear Sister…Mrs Conduit has had some very bad luck, one of the lads, Jim, got both legs cut off this morning, as he was going to catch the mail, the engine ran over him and he died. “He was only 18.”Research has shown the lad was James Henry Conduit of Chapel-en-le-frith. His cause of death was recorded as shock, having been run over by an engine at the Bamford Sidings of the Derwent Valley Water Board.

Auctioneer John Morgan said: “Although we expect a lot of local interest, collections of this size and quality provide a rare opportunity for buyers from many quarters in perhaps what will be a once in a lifetime opportunity, to acquire postcards from this insightful collection.”