Postcards from Chesil
Portland 1920-1940

This page shows pictures from Portland at the southern end of Chesil Beach. These pictures continue the sequence from 1920 to 1940. The pictures are arranged in time sequence determined by the progressive development of the area.

Click on an image to see a higher resolution version of the picture.

Postmarked August 1921

Eight oil tanks have now appeared, presumably built during the First World War. The school (built 1913) and the first houses in Three Yards Close have appeared.

Unpostmarked

This picture was taken at about the same time as the previous picture. The next group of oil tanks are under construction. The Mere is unusually white and this may be due to limestone dust and leachates from the Portland stone being dumped to form the foundations of the tanks.

192?

This card is not postmarked but is believed to have been taken during the late 1920's. The first of the huts on the Weares have appeared and there are now at least 18 oil tanks on The Mere. The rifle range on Chesil Beach can be seen. Note the two steam trains, one each side of Chiswell station.

!930-1933

This card can be dated to the range 1930-1933 by the wreck of the Madeleine Tristran, a schooner wrecked on Chesil Beach in September 1930. (Bottom left-hand corner of picture) In this picture the three masts and some of the rigging are still visible so it was probably taken in the first two years after the incident.

1932-1935

This card can be dated to the range 1932-1935 by the hulk of the Madeleine Tristran, a schooner wrecked on Chesil Beach in September 1930 (bottom left-hand corner of picture). The wreck remained on the beach for 5 years before it was removed. The masts and rigging have been removed so the picture probably dates to some years after the wreck.

Close inspection of this picture shows a line of men stretching from the shoreline up and over the beach and down to the grassy area by the Masonic Lodge. there is also a small group of people watching this activity.