A postcard from Oban

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Here’s another from my mother’s collection of old postcards, this time from 1952. It caught my eye when we were clearing her house before Christmas because I knew we were going to Oban very shortly, and I decided to make it our mission to capture the same scene. The Corran Esplanade hasn’t changed much in 50 years, has it?

For completeness, here’s the other side of the card. Miss C. Stroud is Mum, but who was Nellie? I don’t know. Nor do I know why she seems to be a stranger to punctuation, or why a card from Oban, Argyll, was posted in Dunblane, Perthshire, or whether Mum paid the tuppenny surcharge because the card only had a penny stamp. If she was here I could ask her those questions, but now I’ll never find out.

And why were we in Oban? That I can answer! When Mum died in October, we decided that the best way to handle Christmas was to get away from it all, which we did – very successfully – in a beautiful cottage in Connel about five miles to its north. Much more on all that when I get my blogging mojo back properly. It’s still a bit weak at the moment! I hope 2022 is going well for you so far.

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70 Comments »

  1. It’s heartening how little has changed, I think too much is swept away sometimes in the name of progress. Maybe Nellie was a bit slap dash, forgot to post the card in Oban but still wanted to send it? Old postcards are great fuel for the imagination!

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  2. So interesting to find these special postcards Anabel. I have been to Oban once when I was 17 – my family met me there as they were staying on a holiday cottage in Mull. I had been to France on a month’s exchange trip and was none too happy to leave as I had left my French boyfriend of the time behind. Seems like a lifetime ago! I think I would appreciate Oban and Mull far more nowadays 🙂

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  3. Oban looks nice….and I have been as a child. And also to Connel. We must have camped in a caravan. I remember a beach, a sealife centre and buying an owl made from shells with my holiday spending money. X

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  5. How fascinating to see the two images together like this! I love old postcards and when they have a personal connection they are all the more meaningful, even if you don’t know who Nellie is (or why she can’t punctuate when he English is otherwise perfect!) The main difference that struck me was the absence of boats in the modern scene. A sign of a long-gone fishing industry???

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  6. So impressed you managed to capture just the same spot, and how lovely you got away. Do hope you are beginning to feel re-charged and ready for the strange world we are living in.

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  10. Oban is a great place to spend time in with a bit of lively buzz about it, even in the winter months. Had a wander through that first photograph middle section a few years ago as that area contains several interesting partly overgrown period ruins including the old Oban Hydropathic Sanatorium halfway up that slope below the round folly.

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  11. How cool to have a new photo of the same scene. Nellie must have been making the most of her time and didn’t want to waste the effort to use punctuation. What is the word in the sentence “going for a ___ tomorrow” ? I can’t make it out. So glad for you that you had a peaceful Christmas.

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  14. Lovely to hear from you Anabel, and those postcards just keep on giving! Not a lot of difference in the images. I wonder what my kids will think of some of the postcards I still have!

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    • Thanks Jude. I had a big collection myself – I used to buy one everywhere I went because I didn’t have a camera. Chucked them out at the last house move (terrifyingly the best part of 3 decades ago now – where did the time go?) I now regret that, though I think there is still one album in the loft which I should get out and amalgamate with mum’s.

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  15. So many things we wish we could ask our parents now that they’re gone – that we didn’t even know to ask when we had the chance !

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  16. Gee, there isn’t much difference between the postcard image of Oban and today’s reality. Your comment about having a weak blogging mojo resonated with me. A head full of thoughts that won’t release via my tapping fingers. Your trip away sounded blissful.

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  18. I have found myself missing my old life in Argyll recently (I suspect it is another symptom of pandemic burnout) so I look forward to reading your posts about your most recent visit there.

    I have a possible answer to your question regarding the geographical travels of that postcard. Since we are road-trippers, I often pick up a postcard in one location, only to write it in another location, and perhaps even post it in a third.

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  19. Great to hear from you, Anabel. I’ve wondered how you were doing a time or two. Older postcards always say the same thing, don’t they? Having a lovely time and comments on the weather. Glad the sea air did her good and I hope it did the trick for you too.

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  20. Lovely postcards. Amazing all of the things we don’t know about our parents. We also found lots of photographs on which we can’t identify the people or letters from people we know nothing about. I guess it will be same thing when we died…a good portion of our personal history will disappear. Interesting how the Oban Esplanade hasn’t changed much and glad we enjoyed sometimes away from home. Oban is a lovely town and has great whisky! We love the Oban Single Malt but haven’t had it in a long while; it is getting way too expensive. (Suzanne)

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    • I think our personal history will disappear too – although, maybe in the online age things like these blogs will survive. Or maybe they will also be wiped out in a new wave of technology.

      I’m not sure I’ve ever tasted Oban, we certainly don’t have any at the moment, and I know I haven’t visited the distillery (it’s never been open when we’ve been there). Two new distilleries have opened in Glasgow and we have bottles of each of those to sample.

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  22. Hi Anabel – what treasures these are … even if unknown … whoever it was, appears to be very fit – sailing, running etc …
    Yes – not much change is there … ours hasn’t changed much since probably 1920 … some development – one disaster, but that’s it.
    Take care, rest up – time to reflect … my mother decided to throw anything of that sort out – c’est la vie … her choice (frustrates me!). All the best as the year unfolds – the longer days will help. Hilary

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  25. Nice to know that some things stay the same – I’m a dinosaur I suppose! Take your time getting your blogging spirit back, I haven’t written anything in a few months I think, I’ve lost the will but it will come back when we reach some sort of normality, I suppose. So, looking forward to your usual interesting blogs – you are much missed, but we can wait!

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  26. You have found a trove of blogging material, haven’t you? Too bad it had to come to you that way.

    The postcard image appears to have been taken from an elevated position. Did you ever figure out where the photographer was standing?

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  29. I’ve never been to Oban but I’ve been told it’s very nice. It looks it from your photo and it doesn’t seem to have changed much since the card picture 🙂

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  30. Too long since I have been to Oban and I do not have any photographs. When dad died I was too young and everything went to mum. When mum died everything went to the sisters.
    I completely understand about the blogging mojo. I am finding it difficult getting the motivation to do much..

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  32. Great views. I could probably rustle up a picture of that view from the mid-80s, but not earlier.
    Connell is nice, but next time have a short break at Treshnish Farm on the Isle of Mull… it’s only the ferry plus half an hour more driving 🙂 They do winter breaks as well as year-round weeks or longer.
    Did you explore the tide falls?

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    • I’ll make a note of that in case we ever go back to Mull, thanks! I wouldn’t have wanted to commit myself to the vagaries of the ferry timetable over the Christmas period though. The tide falls weren’t doing anything exciting when we were there.

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