Exhibition – The Golden Age of Communication (check with venue for times)

Starting in March and continuing throughout the spring and summer in various venues around Rotherhithe & Bermondsey is a free exhibition that celebrates the Golden Age of Postcards with a look behind the postcards sent to and from Rotherhithe & Bermondsey in the Edwardian era in the early 20^th century, curated by Michael Holland.

Research has been done on the senders and receivers of those postcards from a hundred years ago to form a picture of the life and times of those who could very well be our ancestors; who lived in the streets that we now walk down; who lived in the houses that still stand today. We get an insight into the local work of that period, with many people working in the leather or brewing industry and many in domestic service. The exhibition gives an understanding of health problems before the safety net of a Welfare State and how children would be torn from the family to be placed in homes to train up as servants; we follow romances that play out over time via the postcards they sent to each other, and of those that fell in The Great War. There are hints at domestic violence, lack of work and an itinerant community flocking to London to find employment. The exhibition shows that the ‘good old days’ that some people crave for were were filled with the aroma of horse dung, illness and far from good.

The exhibition has been put together from various local postcard collections and can be seen at these venues where there will be an opening event with refreshments for each one:

• Time & Talents, The Old Mortuary/St Marychurch St, London SE16 4JE
  • Opening 6th March 6.30pm. Exhibition runs until 20^th March. (Please note, exhibition access is limited by use of rooms for groups and activities – please check with Time & Talents to avoid disappointment)
• Beormund Centre, 177 Abbey St, Bermondsey, London SE1 2AN
  • Opening 27^th March 6pm. Exhibition runs until 10^th April
• Docklands Settlement, 400 Salter Rd, Rotherhithe, London SE16 5AA
  • Opening 18^th April 2pm. Exhibition runs until 28^th April
• City Hope Church, 121 Drummond Rd, Bermondsey, London SE16 2JY
  • Opening 1^st May 6.30pm. Exhibition runs until Friday 15^th May
• Lewington Centre, 9 Eugenia Rd, London SE16 2RU
  • Opening May 29^th 6pm. Exhibition runs until 12^th June
• Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, Redriff Rd, Rotherhithe, London SE16 7LL
  • 20^th June 12pm. Exhibition runs until 4^th July