I previously blogged about Sandbanks, that strip of land at the meeting-point of affluence and sparkling tides, a little while ago. (See Sandbanks Dorset:The light fantastic.)
Sandbanks holds a part of my own childhood, but my Sandbanks memories are simply memories of the British seaside. I was therefore fascinated to discover these images of old postcards of Sandbanks (from the collection of Bournemouth historian Alwyn Ladell). I now know that my childhood visits were not in the time before the golden age of Sandbanks, but more like a quiet lull between two separate 'golden ages', because Sandbanks had a previous flowering in the 1920's and 1930's.
This wonderful series of images by Alwyn Ladell, of which these are just a few, depicts a time between the wars when the great, the good and the colorful found the life of this tiny spit of land. These images show a place which was more open, more bleak and more tranquil than the Sandbanks of today. They show the sand dunes which gave the area its name, not yet built on and covered forever. They show white pebble-dashed houses, a handful of cars and the pride of discovery.
What the Sandbanks of today and the place in these images share is the same clear, cool, brilliant light. Somehow, I can't keep away.
1 The Haven, Sandbanks, c1905. 2 East Looe House, 151 Banks Road, Sandbanks, the home of Mr and Mrs P Allen, c1930. 3 The Haven Hotel c1933. All images of postcards by Alwyn Ladell via Flickr under CC BY license.
