Devon - Torquay - Vane Hill From Waldon Hill

            The Postcard

A postally unused Valentine's Series postcard that has a divided back.

Vane Hill

The attractive view of Vane Hill on the card no longer exists - three brutally ugly blocks of flats have replaced elegant Victorian villas on the hill. Apart from being an incongruent eyesore, the blocks completely overshadow and dominate the former Riviera Hotel.

To see the three blocks, please search for the tag 54TTH29

Vane Hill has been subjected to Croydonisation. Croydonisation is a pejorative term meaning the indiscriminate throwing up of assorted high-rise buildings in an area with little if any regard for their aesthetics or their effect on their immediate environment. Croydon in south London has led the way in this respect.

Valentine’s Co. Ltd. (Valentine & Sons)

Valentine & Sons were a major postcard publisher of Dundee and London. The Valentine Company, a lithographic printing firm, was founded in 1825 in Dundee, Scotland by John Valentine. 

His son James became an early pioneer of photography, and by the 1860’s his work was being reproduced by the Valentine Company as prints and stereo-views. 

After James’ death in 1879, his two sons, George Dobson and William Dobson took over the Company, but in 1884 George moved to New Zealand where he became a landscape photographer. 

In 1880 Valentine began producing Christmas cards, and by 1896 they began printing postcards. Up until 1882 they had only published views of Scotland, but they began expanding into other tourist markets.

Other offices opened in Jamaica, Madeira, Norway, Tangier, Canada, and New York. They produced a great range of view-cards that were mostly printed in Scotland in tinted halftone lithography or issued as real photo cards. 

In addition they produced a vast array of other products that held photographic images. All interests outside of Great Britain were sold in 1923. By 1929 they had given up their photo portraiture work to concentrate solely on postcard production. 

However they did not anticipate the public’s growing demand for colour cards, and by the 1950’s their business was suffering. In response they put most of their efforts into greetings cards. 

They were purchased by John Waddington & Co. in 1963, which passed on to Hallmark Cards in 1980. Dundee operations closed in 1994. 

Torquay

Torquay is a seaside town in Devon, England. It lies 18 miles (29 km) south of the county town of Exeter, and 28 miles (45 km) east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay and across from the fishing port of Brixham.

The town's economy, like Brixham's, was initially based upon fishing and agriculture; however, in the early 19th. century it began to develop into a fashionable seaside resort. 

Later, as the town's fame spread, it was popular with Victorian society. Renowned for its mild climate, the town earned the nickname the English Riviera.

The writer Agatha Christie was born in the town and lived at Ashfield in Torquay during her early years. There is an "Agatha Christie Mile", a tour with plaques dedicated to her life and work.

The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning lived in the town from 1837 to 1841. This was on the recommendation of her doctor in an attempt to cure her of a disease which is thought likely to have been tuberculosis. 

Her former home now forms part of the Regina Hotel in Vaughan Parade.
Taken on: September 12, 2021
Tags:
postcard
old
nostalgia
nostalgic
Torquay
Waldon
Hill
Valentine
divided
back
Vane
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Sets appears in: • Harbours • UK
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