Postcards Project 

Reviewed by our Chairman – Graham Hutchison

About 4 or 5 years ago I was approached by Dr Kathryn Bedford, Curator at Dover Castle to see if we could support the Castle in acquiring a collection of postcards which had been assembled by Pat Cunningham, a former Senior Custodian of the Castle. He sadly passed in January 2020 but his widow Clair had said that he had wished for the collection to be acquired by Dover Castle. I did not hear from Kathryn for some while but in 2024 I bumped into her again and we resumed talks about the potential for collaboration in acquiring the priceless collection.

This led to The Friends of Dover Castle creating a Postcards Project and purchasing the whole collection from the estate and donating it in whole, to Dover Castle. (The Trustees of The Friends of Dover Castle proposed and agreed to purchase the whole collection after English Heritage advised they did not have the necessary budget to do so). Kathryn and her Curatorial team then undertook an assessment of the collection. After this was complete any duplicates and pieces not relevant to the Castle were passed back to the Friends.

We were advised that there were no plans to display the collection and it was likely they would remain in archives to support any planning applications/scheduled monument consent as the postcards would provide visual evidence of how parts of the Castle looked at various times over a very long period.

Pat Cunningham was also well known as the Admiralty Sergeant to the previous Lord Warden, the Lord Boyce – photographed here on one of the many occasions they attended together.

Following further meetings and email exchanges, I handed over ownership of the Collection to the Curatorial Team at Dover Castle in March 2025 and took ownership of the duplicates and others they did not wish to retain. We have since created an album of these duplicates and these are available to view in our office accommodation in the Keep Yard.

English Heritage are now using this Collection as a catalyst to encourage people to start sending postcards again. To support this initiative English Heritage have commissioned famous Children’s illustrators, Quentin Blake and Nick Sharrat to produce 3 limited edition designs which will be available at 18 English Heritage sites, including Dover Castle. This project was launched in the summer of 2026. Our donated Collection will be on display at the Castle at various times, the most recent event being on Saturday 18^th July.

It is so pleasing to know that English Heritage are putting a fabulous collection to good use and on display and also very pleasing to know how our membership association has been able to help.