Expensive postcard!

[Falkor]

Why has this postcard gone up to £21!?
http://tinyurl.com/284qw2
That can't be the Old House in the background, since the rec ground was not opened until afterwards I think? So what is going on!? I don't see anything significant about that view...

[stuart]

Yep - going price for old pix is around £2. I note both bidders are regular buyers of South London vintage postcards. One just paid £2 for a nice colour print of St Barts so may be very local.

It appears the opening bid was £12 which would suggest they attach special importance to this card. But Why?

Auction finishes at 1pm today if anybody wants to grab it!

Stuart

[Lillylocks]

I had my eye on a cup and saucer, present of The Crystal Palace, but the bidding became a bit too rich for my blood. Bummer!
Can't help you with the card though
Lillylocks

[Steve Grindlay]

It finally sold for £21, but that's nothing. I recently saw a PC of an unimportant street in Exeter (showing my brother-in-law's house) sell for £77.

This card is a real photograph (as opposed to a printed card) and shows, I think, the view towards Dacres Road from near the yet to be built bowling green. It is a rarely seen view, and this makes it worth getting.


Price depends on scarcity and, of course, at least two people who really must have it; on this occasion I was not one of them.

[Juwlz]

I recently bought some local postcards, one of which was for about 8 quid or something. Most people would consider this expensive but I thought it was a total bargain! It will have pride of place on my wall.
Lots of old things from the locale are special and rare. Most people would go down to IKEA and buy a meaningless print of some pebbles or something for 8 quid and think it a total bargain. What's strange is that these postcards and other such rare stuff aren't more expensive!

[Michael Viner]

Dear Sir,in reply to your query,there was a good reason for my buying the Sydenham Recreation Ground postcard at that price(for me anyway)and indeed it was for the house in the background-the first really clear view I've ever seen of Stannington Grange,No.90 Dacres Rd. There is a Philips card of a similar view but taken further back and is a lot less clear.No 90 Dacres Rd.was,in the mid-late 50's,one of the most well known houses in the area,for it was the home of elderly eccentrics John & Inies Lidle,two of the great Sydenham characters of the time,often in the local press(and a thorn in the side of the London County Council).They led a long,tireless and vocal campaign against the building of Forest Hill School directly opposite their house(complaining about the noise of building work and the fact that Dacres Rd. had restrictive covenants on the the land-it was strictly for residential use).I've always been interested in the Lidles and their story;I wrote an article about them in the South London Press a few years ago.(I used to write quite regularly on local history,but now I am a full-time carer for my 82 year old mother I rarely have the time or energy,although I did manage a piece in the latest Sydenham Society news). Mr& Mrs Lidle carried on their protests after the school was built,as any late 50's Forest Hill Schoolboy will tell you! Sadly things got worse for them as the LCC planned to redevelop their side of Dacres Rd for the depressing blocks of flats there now.They bought and demolished the other large Victorian houses but the Lidles refused to budge-by 1960 it was the only house left.Mr.Lidles attitude was 'over my dead body' and that's literally how it was(perhaps his one consolation);the LCC had to wait until he died(In 1961,aged 86)before they could build the grim tower block,Heathwood Point,now on the site. 50's press photos were of the Lidles themselves rather than their fine old 1850's house,so I was happy to pay £21 for the postcard. I'm a lifelong Sydenham resident,living at good old Oaksford Avenue(off Wells Park Rd.) through the 60's and 70's,and since 82',Beaulieu Ave. Thanks for your interest,regards,M. Viner

[Falkor]

Interesting story, Michael! Now I understand... thanks.

You should visit here more often; we could certainly do with more knowledgeable people like yourself contributing to the Town History section.

BTW, I lived in Beaulieu Avenue, once, too! You lived in Oaksford as well!? That makes you an upper Sydenham man like me! You must be interested in the wells/St Mary's Oratory/Sydenham generating station? Upper sydenham has changed so much over the years...

[kennyb2]

I`m sure I remember this couple, I was at Dacres road school in the late 50`s to 62.
Was it Mrs Lidle who had a crippled dog that she would exercise on some kind of trolley under its gammy legs?

[Michael Viner]

Dear kenny,I don't think Mrs.Lidle had a dog-perhaps you may be thinking of the old Sydenham lady in the late 70's/80's who used to push her dog(Jack Russell)in a pram around Sydenham Rd.She had glasses and always wore a white wooly hat.Sydenham has a proud little tradition of eccentrics,kept alive today by Aston,the middle-aged black guy who sings hymns in the Post Office (a nice chap,actually)and good old George,he of the eternal blue raincoat tied around the waist with an old trouser belt,worn in all weathers,bicycle clips on his trousers etc who can always be seen dragging his shopping trolley behind him up and down Sydenham Rd.and Westwood Hill.
Kind Regards,Michael