Regular visitors to Hi will know that I have a thing about historical postcards. Personally I think they are a much-neglected source of historical evidence that deserve greater study, although there is obviously a lot of chaff to sort through before finding the wheat! I have found it necessary to focus mainly on a particular place, and in my case it was an easy choice - my home village in Kent, and the immediate surrounding area.

This particular postcard shines a light on two separate historical happenings, which is a bit of a bonus!

The front of the postcard shows the “Temporary School” just a few yards south of the Mafeking Oak.

The brick-built structure in the picture was the Infant School, opened in 1875. The temporary school was built in 1909 as the Junior School, while a permanent structure was being erected on what had been a cornfield, near the railway station. The Junior School moved to the new building in 1911, with the Infant School moving into the same building in 1922. The old Infant School building then became the Parish Hall, which is still in use today.

The back of the postcard illustrates another historical event altogether. Here is what is written on the back:

To Miss S Chamberlain
9 Victoria Terrace
Newquay
Cornwall

Postmarked 7.30pm, August 23 1910 in Wrotham

2 Spring Villas
Wrotham

Dear S. Have you read
in the paper about Mr Moisant’s
flight from Paris to London.
It was very exciting here
yesterday morning at 5.30.
He settled in one of Mr Poore’s
meadows. There was quite
a crowd there to see him
start. I have never seen
an airoplane before.
There has been a lot about
him in the papers.
Hope you are well Love
from N.F.

The first cross-Channel flight had only taken place a year before this, when Blériot crossed from Calais to Dover on 25 July 1909, so we can forgive the mysterious N.F. for not having seen an aeroplane before (and for not being able to spell it correctly!).

As our correspondent writes, this event was indeed in the papers. Checking the digital archive of The Times newspaper, and later as my search deepened, the archive of Flight (“The First Aero Weekly in the World”), I found several references to Mr Moisant’s Paris to London adventure. John Moisant was an American who had only been flying for 5 months when he decided to make this flight between the two capitals, in a Blériot two-seater monoplane. He set off at 5pm on Tuesday 16th August from Issy, Paris, with his mechanic Albert Fileux, reaching Amiens by 7.30 that evening. At 5.15am on Wednesday 17th he set off for Calais, reaching his destination just 2 hours later. After refuelling he and his mechanic (and a cat! - although Flight states that it was only “during the last stages from Rainham” [in Kent] that “he has carried an extra passenger in the shape of a little kitten.”) took off at 10.45 and headed out over the English Channel, landing at Willows Wood, near Tilmanstone (about 7 miles from Dover) by 11.25am, thus making this the first ever passenger flight across the Channel.

Apparently the weather was pretty bad that day, so it was 5am on Thursday 18th before Moisant and Fileux set off again, heading for London. To quote from Flight Magazine (Saturday 27 August 1910):

Canterbury was soon passed, and good progress made until Sittingbourne was sighted, when a broken valve-rod necessitated a stop after a flight of 1 hour 5 mins. A local mechanic effected a repair, and at half past nine the machine once more rose to continue its journey to the Metropolis. Only a short distance had been covered, however, when the engine stopped again, and Mr. Moisant was forced to make a sudden descent at Upchurch, near Rainham, 7 mins. after leaving Sittingbourne. About the best spot he could reach, under the circumstances, was an allotment garden, and in landing there the machine sank into the soft soil, with the result that the propeller was done for and the chassis damaged. Mr. Moisant sought the assistance of Messrs. Short Bros., whilst Capt. Hordern, R.E., of Chatham, rendered valuable aid, repairs being effected very quickly, and soon all was in readiness with the exception of the propeller. A new one was wired for, but this did not arrive from Paris until Friday morning. It was soon fitted, but then the strong wind rendered it advisable to postpone the start. On Saturday morning Moisant made another trial, but could only advance by between two and three miles, when the wind over the hills proved too much for him, and he landed at Gillingham.

A short film is available on the British Pathe web site showing Moisant on the ground at Rainham, at http://www.britishpathe.com/video/paris-to-london-moisant-flight-aka-moisant-flies

To continue the account from Flight:

There he was forced to remain during Sunday. He was early astir on Monday [22 August], and was in the air at 4.29, with the intention of going to the Crystal Palace. He, however, found the tussle with the wind a very fierce one, and at the end of 58 mins. he had been driven considerably off his course. As his petrol supply was then getting rather low he determined to descend, and landed at Wrotham, a distance of about 19 miles from Rainham. The petrol tank was replenished, and another start made after a stop of half an hour.

So this is when our N.F. saw Moisant and his ‘airoplane’.

Flight continues:

No less than 27 minutes were expended in covering four miles, the aviator finding it impossible to get his machine to rise sufficiently to clear the Otford Hills. He therefore deemed it prudent once more to descend, this time at Kemsing, a little place not far from Sevenoaks. A sudden landing damaged the machine, but Moisant, in his characteristic optimistic manner, set to work at once to put matters right, and announced his determination of completing the journey to London, and that only by aeroplane.

Moisant ended up staying in Kemsing for almost 2 weeks before finally managing to complete the final leg of his journey to London on Tuesday 6 September. Here’s the short story that appeared in The Times on 7 September:

A postscript
Sadly, John Moisant was killed in an air crash on 31 December 1910 in Kenner, Louisiana.