You would suppose that a trip on a boat passing lots of places selling postcards would be the best way to add to a collection. I always find, however, that these shops and chandleries are closed by the time we eventually stop and are still shut as we make an early morning start. So this year we make a leisurely visit up the River Soar looking for cards and swooping leaflets of the Shardlow Heritage Centre for those of the marinas at which we called.
Our first stop was actually on the Erewash Canal where I found three new cards published by the Lock House tea rooms, one of the tea rooms and the Steamboat Pub, one of the tea rooms (formerly the Lock Keeper's House - see below) and one a multiple of lock, tea rooms and other scenes. These were 30p each, available at: Tel: 0115-9722288 or e-mail: lockhouse@lineone.net.
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The Post Office at Monntsorrel and the Post Office and newsagent at Barrow on Soar sell cards by "Loughborough in black and white books". Tel: 01509 267450 Website: www.reprintuk.com. There may be other canal and river cards by this firm but I have not checked.
At the Sileby Mill Boatyard on the regular postcard rack I found an aerial view of the Marina liv Aerial promotions of Loughborough, Sileby Mill and Gravel boats on the Soar both by DAR Printing and Sileby Mill circa 1930 with no further information on the back.
Chatting on about why I was buying so many copies brought a gleam to the owner's eye and he produced a box from under a shelf behind the door marked "postcards - shop soiled". In it were quite a few copies of the Robert Wilson Designs cards RWDPC11 of Tarporley and Baildon and RWDPC20 of Sirius.
He also had lots of copies of the very non P. C. (politically correct) series by Trade Tabloids of Nottingham dated 1981. The captions should give you a clue to the illustrations: 'Just look at that pair of whoppers, Sid', 'There's a good swell on tonight Mary', 'I say George, I'd like to get my hands on that little butty', 'This canal holiday certainly suits my old man', 'The old nag still like a little nibble now and then' 'Has anybody seen my little willy'. There are two more in the series so Martin tells me but they are not canal related. Sileby Milll Boatyard telephone number is: 01509 813583.
If anyone wants these cards and has difficulty in getting hold of them, let me know and I will try to round them up next time I go on a Sheila saunter up the Soar.