Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire - The Bridge - Valentines postcard 1910

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  The Bridge, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
• Publisher:  Valentines
• Postally used:  yes
• Stamp:  George V half d. green
• Postmark(s):  Huntingdon 19 May 1910 cds
• Sent to:  Mrs. G. Barnes, Rose Cottage, Romsey, Kent
• Notes / condition: 

Please ask if you need any other information and I will do the best I can to answer.

Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one. No cards have been trimmed (unless stated).

------------------------------------------------

Postage & Packing:

Postage and packing charge should be showing for your location (contact if not sure).

No additional charges for more than one postcard. You can buy as many postcards from me as you like and you will just pay the fee above once. Please wait for combined invoice. (If buying postcards with other things such as books, please contact or wait for invoice before paying).

Payment Methods:

UK - PayPal, Cheque (from UK bank) or postal order

Outside UK: PayPal ONLY (unless otherwise stated) please.   NO non-UK currency checks or money orders (sorry).

NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

----------------------------------------------

Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

*************

Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace in 1599 of Oliver Cromwell.

Huntingdon was founded by the Anglo-Saxons and Danes. Mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it seems that it was a staging post for Danish raids outside of east Anglia until 917, when the Danes relocated to Tempsford, before being crushed by Edward the Elder. It prospered successively as a bridging point of the River Great Ouse, as a market town, and in the 18th and 19th centuries as a coaching centre, most notably The George Hotel. The town has a well-preserved medieval bridge that used to serve as the main route of Ermine Street over the river. The bridge only ceased to be the sole crossing point to Godmanchester in 1975, with the advent of what is now the A14 bypass.

Its valuable trading position was secured by the now vanished Huntingdon Castle. The site is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and is home to a beacon used to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Spanish Armada.

The town has been represented in parliament by two prominent MPs: Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century, and former Conservative Prime Minister John Major from 1979 to 2001. It is currently represented by Conservative MP Jonathan Djanogly.

Original historical documents relating to Huntingdon, including the original borough charter of 1205, are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office Huntingdon.^[1]

Between the railway station and the old hospital building stands a cannon. In the 1990s this replica cannon was installed to replace an original Crimean War one that stood until the Second World War, when it was scrapped for the war effort. When it was installed again in the 1990s it faced the opposite direction from the original.

The George Hotel, on the corner of High Street and George Street was originally a posting house. It was named after St. George in 1574 and was bought some 25 years later by Henry Cromwell, grandfather of Oliver Cromwell. Charles I made The George his headquarters during 1645 and later Dick Turpin is reputed to have been a frequent visitor when it was a busy coaching inn on the Great North Road. The mid-19th century saw two wings of the inn burnt down but thankfully two wings were saved including the one with the balcony overlooking the yard. Since 1959 the courtyard and its balcony have been the setting for performances of the plays of William Shakespeare, produced by the Shakespeare at The George Trust.

The town lies on the north bank of the River Great Ouse, opposite Godmanchester and close to the market town of St Ives in the east and the village of Brampton in the west. Huntingdon now incorporates the village of Hartford to the east, and the developing areas of Oxmoor, Stukeley Meadows and Hinchingbrooke to the north and west.

Between Godmanchester, Huntingdon and Brampton lies England's largest meadow, Portholme Meadow.^[2] Around 257 acres (1 km²) in size and containing many rare species of grass, flowers and dragonfly, it is the only known habitat of the Marsh Dandelion^[3] in Britain. It also acts as a huge natural reservoir for holding excess water in times of flood enabling the river to be run off more slowly, thereby helping to prevent flooding of nearby towns. It has also served as a horse race course and centre for early aviation.

There is a local Horseracing Course, Huntingdon Racecourse. The former Literary and Scientific Institute is now Commemoration Hall.

There are 3 RAF stations within 4 miles of the town: RAF Brampton, once home to Headquarters RAF Support Command and now part of the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO); RAF Wyton, once a major flying station but now also part of the DLO; and RAF Alconbury currently occupied by the United States Air Force.

Once renowned for many more churches within the town, there are now four Church of England churches in Huntingdon, which together with the churches in the adjacent villages Great and Little Stukeley are members of the Huntingdon Team Ministry^[4] in the Diocese of Ely. The four churches are All Saints' (next to the Market Square), St Mary's (opposite Pathfinder House), St Barnabas (on the Oxmoor estate) and All Saints', Hartford.

Part of the medieval infirmary hall of St Johns on the marketplace became Huntingdon Grammar School and was attended by Cromwell and diarist Samuel Pepys. The building is now the Cromwell Museum, run by Cambridgeshire County Council.

Local Primary schools include Hartford Junior School, Thongsley Fields Primary School, St John's Primary School, Stukeley Meadows Primary School and Cromwell Park Primary School. Special needs schools include Spring Common School. Secondary schools include St Peters and Hinchingbrooke School. Further Education colleges include Huntingdonshire Regional College[1], Hinchingbrooke school sixth form college and St Peter's Sixth Form.

type=printed

city/ region=huntingdon

period=pre-1914

publisher=valentines

postage condition=posted

number of items=single

size=standard (140x89 mm)