Hatfield Picture Postcard Tour – 2
Fore Street, Hatfield – used Hatfield Series (No.2) postcard. Postmarked 18 May 1907. First shop on the right is A E Sharp (drapers), with James Cox (chemist and wines and spirits) next door.
Hatfield, Fore Street – unused, undated colourised postcard, published for Daisy Gray, Hatfield.
Fore Street, Hatfield – used Kingsway Real Photo Series postcard. Postmarked 22 July 1913. Building on the left has a The National Telephone Company sign on the wall with a small projecting Public Telephone Call Office sign.
Fore Street, Hatfield – used W A Guest (WAG), The Hatfield Press, Hatfield postcard. Postmarked 11 July 1922. The registration number on the motorcycle combination in the bottom right is AR6230.
Town Lodge, Fore Street, Hatfield – unused, undated Real Photo Post Card postcard. Signs for The East Indian Chief on the left – a Pryor Reid & Co Ltd pub (please see Claims to Fame – Brewing). The trees clearly visible in St Ethelreda's Churchyard have long been cut down.
Park Entrance, Hatfield – unused, undated James Cox, Stationer, Hatfield postcard. Shows the old gatehouse entrance to Hatfield House at the top of Fore Street. Originally, the Great North Road curved to the right and ran between the back of the church and in front of the gatehouse.
Town Lodge, Hatfield – unused, undated J Cox, Stationer, Hatfield, Herts postcard. Another view of the old gatehouse entrance to Hatfield House at the top of Fore Street. Somewhat confusingly, the building on the left, originally the Salisbury Arms inn, is now called The Gatehouse. The closed archway used to be the entrance to a courtyard reputed to be large enough to stable a 100 horses. It was a prime stop on the Great North Road in the days of the stagecoach.
The Old Palace, Hatfield – used, Rush & Warwick Art Printers, Bedford postcard. Postmarked 25 May 1910. Shows the Old Palace just beyond the Fore Street entrance. Trees and the ivy have been removed.
Hatfield Church – used Valentine's Series postcard. Bit further down the road from the view above. Postmarked 15 October 1908. Shows St Etheldreda's Church with its steeple from Fore Street.
Hatfield "Birdseye View from the Church Tower – unused, undated Hatfield Series (No.15) postcard. Printed in Saxony. Roof of the Park Street Nonconformist Chapel visible on the right. Visible on the left is the open expanse of Broadway with the chimney of the Hatfield Brewery behind it.
Fore Street, Hatfield – used Lilywhite, All British Photo Printers postcard. Postmarked 20 July 1922. View looking down Fore Street. Union Jack flags and bunting decorating the houses suggest a special occasion like a Royal visit or the end of WWI (postmark date does not indicate when the picture was taken, rather when it was not – in this case it rules out events after 1922).
Broadway, Hatfield – unused, undated W A Guest (WAG), The Hatfield Press, Hatfield postcard. The Salisbury Temperance Hotel (with the blue awning) is the only building still standing today. Next to it was the main Hatfield Post Office. Closer in, The Dray Horse is visible with the red roof and blue windows.
London Road, Hatfield – unused, undated J Cox, Hatfield, Herts postcard. Dray Horse Inn Refreshment Room sign visible on the left. Salisbury Temperance Hotel (later Restaurant) visible beyond.