GWR postcards
GWR postcards series 4-6
Series 4
This series of 25 gravure cards appeared in September 1905 and cost 1/- (one shilling) for the complete set. These were the first to carry the company crest composed of the two shields of London and Bristol under which was a scroll with the words Great Western Railway. The crest was printed at the top left of the address side of the cards, and G.W. "Series 4." was printed above it.
63 - Perivale Church.
Great Western Railway, Perivale Halt
64 - Cliveden Woods.
By G.W.R. to Maidenhead
65 - Reading from Caversham.
Great Western Railway
66 - Christchurch, Oxford.
Great Western Railway
67 - Stratford-on-Avon.
Nearest Station, Great Western Railway, Stratford
68 - Worcester Cathedral.
By Great Western Railway
69 - Leamington.
Great Western Railway
70 - Horse Shoe Falls.
By Great Western Railway to Berwyn
71 - Valle Crucis Abbey.
By Great Western Railway to Berwyn
72 - Wells Cathedral.
By Great Western Railway to Berwyn
73 - Footbridge to Old Mill
By G.W.R. to Cynwydd.
74 - The Lower Avon, Bath.
Great Western Railway
75 - Oystermouth Bay.
Great Western Railway to Swansea
76 - Bristol Cathedral and College Green.
Great Western Railway
77 - Minehead (Somerset).
Great Western Railway
78 - The Beach, Teignmouth.
Great Western Railway
79 - Dawlish.
Great Western Railway
80 - "The Cornish Riviera Express", near Dawlish
Great Western Railway
81 - Paignton.
Great Western Railway
82 - Dartmouth and Kingswear Castles.
Nearest Station GWR Kingswear
83 - Fowey (Cornish Riviera.)
Great Western Railway
84 - Truro. Cathedral and River Fal.
Great Western Railway
85 Newlyn Harbour.
Nearest Station GWR Penzance
86 - Hugh Town, St. Marys, Scilly.
By Great Western Railway to Penzance
87 - Great Western Railway Express Engine. (County Class)
Series 4 postcard back
Series 5
This was the third and final series to be published in 1905. These were the first 'view' cards to be printed in colour and could be bought as a set of 25 for 1/-. With three exceptions, all cards carried the title on the front with the words 'Great Western Railway' below. Aberystwyth had the word 'via' added, whilst Glastonbury said instead By G.W.R. to Wells and similarly Lynmouth said By G.W.R. via Barnstaple. On the address side the cards bore the same 'two shields' device as that on Series 4 with G.W.R. Series 5. printed above.
A Fishpond, Burnham Beeches
Great Western Railway
Cockington Forge, Torquay
Great Western Railway
College Barges on the Thames, Oxford
Great Western Railway
Glastonbury Abbey
by G.W.R. to Wells
Lynmouth
By GWR via Barnstaple
Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon
Great Western Railway
Old Yarn Market, Conegar Tower, Dunster
Great Western Railway
On the Tryweryn, Bala
Great Western Railway
On the Wye, Chepstow
Great Western Railway
St. Michael's Mount, Marazion
Great Western Railway
Suspension Bridge, Clifton
Great Western Railway
The Abbey, Tintern
Great Western Railway
The Beach, Aberystwyth
via Great Western Railway
The Cathedral, Exeter
Great Western Railway
The "Cornishman" near Box
Great Western Railway
The Esplenade, Weymouth
Great Western Railway
The Harbour, Ilfracombe
Great Western Railway
The Hoe Promenade, Plymouth
Great Western Railway
The River And Church, Marlow
Great Western Railway
The Sands, Tenby
Great Western Railway
Torquay from Rock Walk
Great Western Railway
Torr Steps, Dulverton
Great Western Railway
Upper Falls, Dolgelley
Great Western Railway
Weston-Super-Mare
Great Western Railway
Windsor Castle
Great Western Railway
Series 5 postcard back
11 - Posted to Oxford, franked '9 Jan 1909'
Series 6
This series of 12 black and white photographic cards was published from July 1908 and was sold as a set for one shilling. With the sole exception of the sixth card, which shows a passenger express train at speed on the main line, it featured posed studies of a variety of railway locomotives of the GWR. The address side carried a new Company device which was formed from the joining of the two shields of London and Bristol with a scroll bearing the words 'Great Western Railway' beneath. SERIES 6 was printed below the scroll. The Great Western Railway Magazine from August 1908 carried a collage of all 12 cards in the series with the title Pictorial Postcards - G.W.R. EnginesGreat Western Railway Magazine
August 1908
Author's collection
Click or tap link for a larger image. The postcards are shown below listed in the sequence as they were illustrated in that collage.
The locomotive illustrated on the last card is one which has particular significance in the history of the Great Western Railway. Bulkeley was built at Swindon in 1880 and was named in honour of a long-standing Great Western Railway director, Captain Bulkeley of Windsor. On Friday 20th May 1892, Bulkeley hauled the last Great Western Railway broad gauge passenger train which was the 5 p.m. from Paddington to Plymouth.
An interesting local note is that three de Glenn 4-4-2 compound expansion engines nos. 102 La France (card 7), 103 President and 104 Alliance (card 10) were shedded at Oxford from 1913. They were purchased by the GWR from the Chemin de Fer du Nord for comparison trials circa 1903 and scrapped from Oxford in 1926, 1927 and 1928 respectively.
Atlantic Type. "Scot" Class, "Ivanhoe."
"Single" Wheel. "Achilles."
"Consolidation" Goods Engine. No. 2803
"County" Class. "County of Radnor."
Double-End Tank Engine No. 3120.
3:30. p.m. from Paddington. Engine No. 178 "Kirkland."
Glehn Compound. "La France."
"Star" Class. "Evening Star."
Glehn Compound Engine No. 104
"City" Class. "City of Bath."
Six Coupled Passenger Engine. "Viscount Churchill."
Old Broad Gauge "Single" Wheel "Bulkeley."
Series 6 postcard back
2 - Misprinted (and upside down) back
Series 6 packet
Series 6 packet inside
Series 6 packet back
As a footnote, the apparent misprinting on the back of one of the cards in our collection, as shown above, probably came about as a result of the way they were made. We understand that the cards were made up from three laminations glued together and then cut into the individual cards. The first was the picture, then a plain card stock, and finally the printed address side which in our example was misaligned and the wrong way up.
