Derek James looks at postcards of Norfolk market towns

Most people sent postcards home of their holidays at the seaside but cards featuring our inland communities are not seen quite so often.

Greetings from Holt.- a lovely old postcard published by G.W.Starling of the Library, Holt (Image: Supplied)

And as time moves on they become more interesting as we can see how our towns and villages have changed - or not.

They are a snapshot of life and are now part of our local history.

The first picture postcards were published in the 1890s and then a few years later a standard size was introduced with an illustration on one side and a message on the other.

Is that a dog or a cat sitting in the middle of The Thorofare at Harleston some time ago. A lovely old image of the way things were. in this lovely town (Image: Supplied)

They cost half a penny to send and this was the golden age of postcards.

As Philip Standley of Wymondham wrote in his books: "Postcard collecting became a national craze and almost every household could boast of an album of cards for visitors to see and admire."

Not sure when this photograph of the High Street at Dereham was taken for a postcard published by Brenners Bazaar but it looks like it was 12.30 or is that 1.30pm on Cooper's clock? (Image: Supplied)

And you can imagine that postcards sent from our troops in the First World War to family and friends at home were treasured.

A rise in postage rates and the increased use of the telephone caused a gradual decline in sending postcards but they are still popular and people love collecting them.

A postcard of Diss with a rare mistake on the front. It says St Nicholas Church when it is, of course,St Mary's Church. I was a choirboy there when this picture was taken in the 1950s. There was a separate St Nicholas Chapel in medieval times. Hence St Nicholas Street (Image: Supplied)

It was a privilege to be able to help postcard collectors, Michael and Sylvia Porter of Beccles, raise more than £120,000 to support the work of the Norfolk Deaf Children's Society and more than £28,000 of that money came from the cards our readers sent me.