1913 - Eleanor's European Tour

In May 1913 Eleanor (aged about 18) travelled with a group of friends to Italy and Switzerland. As a record of their tour, a large number of photographs were taken, as well as some postcards bought. Most of the pictures were titled on the back by Eleanor so we have a record of the group's travels. En route to Italy and on the way home they must also have travelled through France but there are no photographs to show where they stopped. Some of the photographs are of places which can still be recognised today.

There seem to have been two cameras in use. The greater majority of the photographs are in black and white and of reasonable quality. There are a few taken with another camera which are in sepia and are not so good quality. Some of the photographs have been a slightly damaged or bent over the years and you can see this in the images presented here.

From the places the group visited, and a couple of postcards sent home by Eleanor, I have worked out the route they probably followed. They will have travelled mostly by train, but as much of their tour was in the Italian Lakes, quite possibly by boat as well.

On Saturday, 15th May 1913, the group arrived in Venice. The next day Eleanor wrote home.

Postcard from Venice

Pictures taken in Venice

St Marks Square
Grande Canal
Doge's Palace
Venice 4
Rialto Bridge
Venice 6
Venice 7
St Marks Basin
Gondoliers

St. Mark's Square
Gondola 1
Gondola 2

No visit to Venice is complete without seeing The Bridge of Sighs

The group also visited Burano at the northern side of the Venetian Lagoon.

Burano
Locals from Burano

From Venice they probably travelled to Lake Garda where they visited Desenzano...

Desenzano 1
Desenzano 2

....and then on to Lake Como to visit Cadenabbia .

Cadenabbia 1
Cadenabbia 2

Did they stay at The Grand Hotel?

At this point they probably travelled to Lake Lugano.

Lugano 1
Lugano 2
Lugano 3
Lugano 4

The Lake is partly in Switzerland, the border meets the lake on its western side at Ponte Tresa. There are three photographs that I originally thought were titled 'Ponte Inesa'. I could not find anywhere in the lakes with this name. However, I included them here and an Italian called Cristina emailed me to say she thought it might be Ponte Tresa.

So Ponte Tresa is probably where the picture of the group on the Swiss/Italian border was taken.

Swiss/Italian border

These are the other photographs taken in Ponte Tresa.

Ponte Tresa 1
Ponte Tresa 2
Ponte Tresa 3

And then on to Lake Maggiore. This is a lake famed for its islands and gardens.

Stresa 1
Stresa 2
Isola Bella 1
Isola Bella 2
Isola Bella 3
Isola Madre
Isola Bella 5

On Wednesday 19th May Eleanor sent another postcard home from Pallanza....

Postcard from Pallanza

...and more postcards were bought for the collection.

Postcard of Pallanza
Postcard of Isola Bella (in colour)

As the postcard says from Lake Maggiore the group then travelled to Montreux. They must have taken a detour to Lucerne.

Lucerne 1
Water Tower
Lucerne 3
Lucerne water front

Then they were on their way home. So there are also a couple of postcards for the collection....

Woman and Dog
Idillio

and two lakeside photographs...

Boat Trip
Lakeside

This was not the only trip abroad that Eleanor took. She travelled with Alex when he went away on business. They went to New York (there are a couple of pictures of the waterfront) and also to the Far East. But mostly Eleanor stayed at home and looked after the family and holidayed in St. Anne's on the Lancashire coast.

And finally thanks go to Andy, Matt and Nick for their technical advice and patience. They can have the computer back now!