Ramblings of a Deltiologist

I picked up a wonderful photo album at the postcard fair. In the year when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, Mount Everest was finally conquered and sugar rationing finally came to an end, three ladies (Sheila, Terpie and album owner) hit Paris with their box cameras. Sadly I do not know anything about the owner of the album except for what she looked like. I would like to thank her very much for making such an exquisite book. I hope to one day retrace their steps.

Dorothy Pilley was born on 16 September1894 at 167 Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, London (will check out this address soon). She became interested in climbing, which was a predominantly male pastime, after a holiday in Wales. She didn't just climb Welsh mountains, she guided people in the French Alps, Mont Blanc chain, Spanish and French Pyrenees, Italian Alps, Oberland, and Valais. She married Ivor in December 1926 in Honolulu during a two-year world tour, which included the Canadian and American Rockies. In 1927 she ended the tour trekking in the Himalayas and then the Alps. I cannot find a reference to Japan in 1927. Her husband's academic positions took them to Peking in 1929-30, Yunnan Japanese Alps and Korea in 1936-8, and then on to the USA from 1939 to 1974 ( I will write about him next as he is also very interesting). She wrote a book in 1935 called 'Climbing Days'. She became the first vice-president of the Alpine Club in 1975. I found a lovel...

D actually picked this one up for 20p as he is the deltiologist of all things Japanese. I was lucky that the previous owner of this photograph had written the names of the people on the back. Sadly, the deer were not mentioned. After searching the geneology sites, I decided to google their names. Sure enough, I found information on Dorothy Pilley and Ivor Richards. Other pictures of the two on the Web confirmed that the names on the reverse were the people in the picture. I am convinced the next postcard will be frustratingly dull in comparison, but we shall see. So, who are they? Dorothy Pilley is the lady. She is 33 in the photograph and she had been married for a few months to Ivor Richards, who is the 34 year-old gentleman in the picture. They met while climbing in Wales (Ivor is a very Welsh name and it is not a surprise they met climbing - I will get to that in a bit) and they married in Honolulu on 31 December 1926. The photograph was taken while they were on ...