This postcard from the archive created considerable interest among readers of the Friends of the Goods Shed (FoGS) newsletter in February.

Several readers, including Tetbury branch historian, Steve Randolph, have been able to shed light on it.

Trevor Knights provided evidence that the postcard was of a generic type published by the Cynicus Publishing Company. Cynicus was the pseudonym of Martin Andersen, a gifted Scottish artist, political cartoonist, postcard illustrator and publisher.

The same drawing was used to illustrate postcards of several local branch lines, of which Trevor provided examples for Bridgnorth, Biddenham and, in Derbyshire, the ‘Tutbury Jinny’, which ran from Burton.

One of these postcards has a postmark for 1907. The Post Office only permitted the use of these divided-back postcards from 1902 and Andersen’s company went into liquidation in 1911 so we have a good estimate of its likely age.

As to the existence of a nearby golf course, there was indeed one. It was located to the east (right) of the main road to Cirencester just past the Long Newnton Road junction and its nine holes stretched from there towards Ashley. Rail Lands Trust chair, Julia Hasler, who farms the area, always wondered why one of their fields was known as The Golf!

The club, initially known as Tetbury Golf Club, was founded in 1901. By 1923 it was called Larkhill Golf Club. Mr W J Warn was the secretary and employed both a club professional and a greenkeeper. The club does not appear to have survived the Second World War and probably folded in 1940.