Another one of my collecting interests is hill figures, such as this one on the edge of the Wiltshire town of Marlborough. The white horses of Wiltshire are probably the best known examples, although there are figures up and down the country, and not all are made from exposed chalk but that is the most common type of building material.

I briefly paid a visit to the Marlborough White Horse in January 2022, on my way back from nearby Avebury. It was really good to see this horse in real life, even if it was only for a few minutes and not in the best of conditions. It was interesting to note that the legs have changed shape and it looks like the postcard photographer was on higher ground because the head, neck and tail are more obvious than on my photo.

I have promised myself I will get back and spend some more time with this particular hill figure and get some better photos and maybe even produce a postcard of my own because when I was in Marlborough I couldn’t find a modern postcard of the horse.

This postcard was published by Valentine & Sons of Dundee and London. The University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, holds many records from the company and provide a useful booklet in pdf format which not only has a history of the company but also a guide to dating the images based on the reference number.

According to the list the reference number 73335 would date the image to 1912 although I suspect this postcard was publish some years later, maybe in the late 1920s or the 1930s.