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Monday 19 September 2011

Fleamarket Postcards - Sandwell Gate, Hartlepool



The Heugh a peninsula or headland in the North East of England is familiarly known as Old Hartlepool. It may have been an isolated tidal island in prehistoric times. Excavations in the 19th century unearthed trunks of trees believed to be the remnants of an ancient forest. Antlers and teeth  recovered indicated that deer inhabited the area in those earlier times.

The Anglo-Saxon name for Hartlepool was Heret eu or Stag Island. This refers either to the shape of the headland or indicates the presence of forest deer. Heret eu later became known as Hart, a district covering the Heugh and the nearby villages of Hart and Billingham. The word ‘pool’ was added to distinguish the headland from Hart,

In the 13th century the port and fishing town of Hartlepool was fortified by defensive walls built round the headland. Some parts of Hartlepool’s ancient wall remain, including Sandwell Gate.
Sandwell Gate 1908 (unused postcard)
 Photographer Alfred Price

A modern photo from Flickr shows the gate in recent times:
Sandwell Gate
 (ex flickr - by twiggles - CC BY-NC 2.0 license)

The postcard appears to be one of a series of local Heritage Prints by Alfred Price (1890-1912)

4 comments:

Alfandi said...

I love the antique pictures..there is a feel to it that cannot be replicated.

Little Nell said...

I do like it when we get to compare old views with current ones, even though there are fewer people in the modern photo! You won’t be surprised to hear that I’ve been there Bob, though quite a few years ago now. I remember we visited the historic dockyard. I wish I had fleamarkets where you could find such interesting postcards as this.

21 Wits said...

What a great find! I really like the view of the city from long ago as it seems there is a wall built in the latest version! Either way it's structure is stunning!

Barbara said...

How exciting it must be to visit ancient relics and to actually put yourself into a modern picture! Fascinating comparisons!