Annie & John are in Corbridge. They write:
“Dear Martin,
This is a lovely country place. Fine walks (but) no clicks, so it is no use.”
Clicks? Dicks? Ducks? Clucks?
“Be good to Fluffy. I suppose she will have missed me by now. Will let you know later when we are to arrive.”
Who are Annie, John? Do you know? Fluffy may be their cat – Martin could be looking after it for them, so maybe they are neighbours, live in the same street? And Sunderland is in Co Durham during this time.
The swiftness of postcard mail again emphasised here – “will let you know later” implies the same day, doesn’t it?
Nice black & white photo of Corbridge Church, Norman columned arch around the door. It’s still open, still active: St Andrew’s Church Corbridge.
THE GREAT FERN STREET POSTCARD MYSTERY 
Annie (born 19/06/1892) was the oldest of Martin’s three sisters. John (Leask) is her husband. They married on 06 August 1917, so this postcard, postmarked 4 days later, would have been from their honeymoon. Tragically, John died in 1919.
I wonder what she means by “clicks”, and why without them “it is no use”.
Hello Peter! How wonderful to find you and thank you so much for this information.
So you know who Martin Crosby was and presumably he was a relative?
Martin was a cousin of my grandfather, Thomas William Crosby of Sunderland.
Martin was a common name down the generations in our family. The first of my ancestors to live in Sunderland was a Martin – he moved from Robin Hood’s Bay, where the Crosbys has been farmers and later trawlermen for generations, in the early 1800s. He was registered as a merchant seaman and was doubtless lured by the coal trade. His son, James George, was a joiner – whether in the ship building, mining or building industry we don’t know..
James George Crosby named his second son Martin; he died in infancy and James re-used the name for a later son, who died in service in the British army in India. Undeterred by the ill fortune that seemed to have attached to the name, another of James George Crosby’s sons, James Frederick Crosby, named his second son Martin; he is your Fern Street resident.
Peter this is all tremendously exciting. There are more postcards to post on this site. And lots of responses from people who are equally excited by the mystery. The more we uncover the better.
Hi Brenda, I’m looking forward to seeing more of the collection. How did you come by them?