'The Liverpool Mail Near St Albans.' 1836

Social History (Museum of St Albans)

1998.5183

Aquatint - ' The Liverpool Mail, in a snow drift - Two ladies left in their chariot without horses - The Post Boy having gone to St Albans in search of fresh ones '] hand-coloured aquatint probably by James Pollard (1792-1865) The scene here is on the London Road a mile south of St Albans on Boxing Day 1836. Snow began to fall on Christmas night and continued for a week, with particularly heavy falls around St Albans. The rest of the story is told in the title; the ladies probably doubt that the post boy will return. Pollard made at least two versions of this scene. This aquatint version is concerned with dramatic effect, and makes masterly use of pure white paper and a flat blue sky. The other, with its leaden sky and snowdrift of white paint, accurately shows St Albans from the south-east, with the toll gate visible where the railway bridge now crosses the London Road.

1836

ph8706

120 transparency

1) Photo Studio

London Road (a mile south of St Albans), Hertfordshire, UK.

PWD Box 12 (green).

Herts Before the Car, 2001