World on my postcards

  Pulteney Bridge, together with the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, is one of the world's most beautiful bridges. Like the Ponte Vecchio it is one of a handful of historic bridges in the world with shops built into it.  

  Aberystwyth is a University town with some seven thousand students, ensuring it a vibrant throughout the year and not just during summertime. Incidentally, there are now ‘only’ fifty pubs left in Aberystwyth!

  Aberystwyth is the principal holiday resort and administrative centre of the west coast of Wales. It is also home to the University of Wales Aberystwyth and the National Library. The town is nestled between three hills and two beaches, and hosts some castle ruins, a pier and a harbour. The surrounding hills hold the visible remains of a iron age fort and also a monument to Wellington and once climbed offer stunning views of Cardigan Bay.

Devon is a county in southwest England. It encompasses sandy beaches, fossil cliffs, medieval towns and moorland national parks. The English Riviera is a series of picturesque, south-coast harbour towns including Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. The South West Coast Path follows the coastline, taking in the towering cliffs of the northern Exmoor Coast and rock formations on the fossil-rich southern Jurassic Coast.

Norfolk is the fifth largest county in England.Norfolk has more than 150 deserted medieval villages - more than almost any other county. Nearly 30 of these are located in the Brecklands where the soil is light and sandy.

This is a postcard that I sent to my self while I was on my holidays in London. The clock inside the tower was the world's largest when it was installed in the middle of the nineteenth century. The name Big Ben actually refers to the clock's hour bell, the largest of the clock's five bells. The other four are used as quarter bells.   There were two bells cast as the clock tower's hour bell. A first, sixteen ton weighing bell was cast by John Warner and Sons in 1856. Since the Clock Tower was not yet completed, the bell was hung temporarily in the Palace Yard. The bell soon cracked so it was recast in 1858 in the Whitechapel Bell Foundry as a 13.5 ton bell. Unfortunately soon after this bell was placed in the belfry in July 1859, it cracked as well. This time, instead of yet again recasting the bell, the crack was repaired and a lighter hammer was used to prevent any more cracks.

  Did you know that the last witches to be hanged in Britain were three women from Bideford in Devon? They were tried and executed as late as 1682, the case against them including such incontestable evidence as a tabby cat taken to be the devil entering a shop owned by a witness; and a magpie alighting at the window of one of the accused. Bang to rights then. They were tried on August 19 1682, and hanged outside Exeter six days later.

 The special stamp is reproduced at postcard-size in this collectable set of stamp cards. c.1774 – Pulteney Bridge, River Avon. The UK's finest example of an inhabited bridge. Pulteney Bridge, together with the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, is one of the world's most beautiful bridges. Like the Ponte Vecchio it is one of a handful of historic bridges in the world with shops built into it. Built for William Pulteney by Robert Adam, the bridge was an attempt to connect central Bath to land on the other bank of the River Avon and make Pulteney's fortune. In spite of its practical origins it is surely the most romantic bridge in the world, best viewed from Parade Gardens park by the crescent weir.

 Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. Hampshire has a long maritime history and two of Europe's largest ports, Portsmouth and Southampton, lie on its coast. The county is famed as home of such writers as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, as well as the birthplace of engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.