Storm waves at New Brighton pier, England, 1904

About this postcard

Storm waves break over the promenade and railings at New Brighton, with the pier's pavilions and a tower standing against a heavy sky and ships on the horizon. New Brighton sits at the tip of the Wirral peninsula across the Mersey from Liverpool, and by the 1900s it was the seaside outing for working-class Liverpool families, who came by ferry to a long promenade and a pleasure pier built in the late 1860s for fishing and strolling. The resort's tower, opened in 1898 and then the tallest building in Britain, stood over the town until it was dismantled for scrap after the First World War. The card was posted in the summer of 1904. The message on the back is a short family thank-you: a parcel had arrived safely, along with a piece of chain, and love was sent to all.