Shorthand is another country to me!!

[HeatherLynne]

That information may be helpful Michael but I don't recall seeing any outlines that look like those other placenames.  I will have a proper look in the morning, I'm really tired now from a visit to the London Metropolitan Archives today 

Many thanks for your praise Lizzie  though I don't feel I've done a very good job so far.  It seems this could well be an earlier version of Pitmans than I learnt, hence the confusion between 'fl' and 'ford' on Stratford. 

Thanks also to greensleeves and tillypeg for their inputs, I'll try and add it all together tomorrow. 

Just out of interest Michael, what's on the other side of the postcard?  I doubt it'd give us any clues to the shorthand but I'm nosey 
Heather

[Greensleeves]

One of the many problems with deciphering someone's shorthand is that shorthand writers make up their own shortforms for common words.  For example, when I worked in Suffolk I had shortforms for Ipswich,Bury St Edmunds, Felixstowe.  I would of course know immediately what that particular outline meant, but if someone was to pick up a sheet of my work out of context at some time in the future, I doubt that they would have the foggiest idea what 'psch',  'bsnd' or 'fst' would mean.

I don't think you are ever going to get a precise translation because of the phonetic nature of Pitmans and the fact that many of the words are open to interpretation by the reader.   The way I read it in some places, there are some very intimate comments made on this postcard which were intended only for the recipient.  Suffice to say that they both seemed to have had a jolly good time!

[HeatherLynne]

Morning Greensleeves!  It seems I was trying to read the lines at the side of the page upside down!  I looked and looked and could not see the bit about learning to swim for the life of me, til I turned my head the other way!  Now you've got me searching for the 'very intimate comments' but to no avail 
However I've just deciphered another bit in the sideways piece

I was wondering ~ ~ ~ tomorrow lunch time [?at the meeting?].     

There are several outlines in the sideways piece that have lots of detail and I should be able to read but are elluding me at the moment.

You're so right about shorthand writers making up their own short forms, I used to do it all the time 

[mcg]

I'm so sorry not to be chatting but we've been away for a couple of days in Stratford on "Family" business

My word, haven't you all been busy whilst we've been away, I don't know Greensleeves, if she did learn to swim but it was apparently not uncommon for the Avon to freeze over and provide good ice for skating. Tillypeg seems to have seen something different.

Heather, the other side of the card is a holiday photo taken at Weston-Super-Mare along the prom and shows both his parents and his sister and brother in law sitting on a long seat admiring the view. Nosey is good, where would chasing up our roots be without a bit of nosiness! I'll attach the pic if it will help.

Another abbreviation locally there is "SonA" which seems obvious but also takes a lot of people ages to recognise. I'm sure greensleeves is right that we will eventually have to accept that whatever interpretation we make of this card, there will be other possibilities.

Hope Platterbaff joins us as the thread I posted on Untangled just sat there, again, many thank to you all, Michael

[snaptoo]

Sorry that I have been unable to make any further contribution to this thread. following my earlier posts. I have yet to receive a reply from my college tutor. I am hoping that he will get back to me eventually, but as I said before, he is a very busy man, and could be on one of his trips abroad, or possibly in the throes of moving, as I know that he had just sold his house when I saw him!

If and when he does get back to me, it will be interesting to compare his transcription with all of yours!

snaptoo

[mcg]

SnapHappyToo, I have just had time to review the thread you left for me to follow up.

Fergus Anckorn seems to be a modern day superman, what an inspiration he is, if only a little of that special something that he surely must possess could rub off on the rest of us then anything would be possible.

Are you sure the photo of him isn't mixed up with someone who just received their buspass?  

Thank you for letting me share that and I certainly hope he will be able to help with our postcard,

Best regards

Michael

[mcg]

Snaphappytoo, we just cross posted, please don't worry about your college tutor, we can wait a little longer, it's no problem and his insight will be invaluable I'm sure,

Best wishes

Michael

[busybod]

My final contribution:-

After the line that reads "I really do not know how I shall last 3 weeks":-

-------------------------- doesn't it seem a long time but still ---------------------- we intend to be writing again is it.

The next line is open to interpretation, if it says what I think it does, then the writer has got her s loop on the wrong side of chay (it looks like a number 9), but I think it could say "I have such (such being the No.9) a wonderful time when I am with you darling, I regret I cannot express how ------------------------------.

That's my best effort I'm afraid.  What does anyone else think.  I think as Greensleeves remarked, we all make up our own short forms as we go along and it is extremely difficult to read one's own shorthand after a while, let alone anyone elses's.

Best of luck anyway.


Busybod

[busybod]

Correction to earlier post, I should have said it reads:

I regret I cannot explain how ........................................



Busybod