Identify this photo please

[horseshoes]

http://tinypic.com/us...SMJwpoTS1Joh4l5k2TGxc

I don't know if anyone can help. Do you recognise the hotel? What do you think this is? I notice that there are no women or children present - perhaps a recruiting drive. Do you know what make car is? I'd like your ideas. Thank you all in advance.

[dothawkes31]

They're wrapped up well against the cold in the car , it's not a military vehicle as it has an AA badge (first issued 1906) there is a white number on the front of the car. which means nothing to me but if it is a number plate, and is the letter C, the car is from the West Riding of Yorjshire, there does seem to be snow on the ground on the road but that could just be the light.
The houses with half wooden elevations do suggest east Anglia though.
Whatever is happenong behind the cat further down the road is of more interest to the spectators, who seem to be all men, which is odd! I wonder if it is to do with a football match? They are all dressed in their sunday clothes, not work clothes and they look decidedly idle and casual!

[dothawkes31]

I think those two odd shaped bars sticking out at the front came on a Stutz .

[Vagrant]

Have you tried posting in Motoring?

[dothawkes31]

But it's a british car isn;t it so unlikely , does there look to be some damage to the hotel? It's names is written across the front of the stone canopy, it look a bizarre feature on the front off such a very ordinary building.

[dothawkes31]

Oh there is a woman in there, the person in the white coat is wearing an ankle length skirt under the coat. nearly every man standing watching has his hands in his pockets! It must have been cold. It's definately snow on the road too.

[bookbinder]

If you have no luck on this site, try asking the Daily Telegraph Motoring supplement. I'm sure that you'll get a result there. If the staff can't answer your question, they'll print it in the paper and some reader is sure to know.
http://www.dailyteleg...caradvice/honestjohn/ or try this one:
http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/motoring

[dothawkes31]

I'm not convinced that identifying the make and model of vehicle would help identiffy the context of the photo. The hotel would be the biggest clue as to location. I really don't think it is a mining or industrial community as the men all appear quite smartly dressed, I also think that the gentleman standing right in the middle of the steps under the canopy could be the Mayor as there seems to be a chain around his neck. That sort of expectation of a VIP event does suggest a royal visit.

[dothawkes31]

A leap into a best guess would think George V and Sandringham but that may be too simple.

[jno]

not damage - if you click on 'raw image' it looks like maybe people standing on top of the entrance porches; or possibly bunting (it's very blurry).

[dothawkes31]

yes jno I've realised that it is people standong on the roof of the bay window, I did think it was a cameraman actually.

[jno]

the number plate says C.5 and there's a second figure obscured, possibly 7. It could conceivably be a G but I don't think so. I've fiddled around with the hotel name (on the porch and on the lantern at the end) on Photoshop but I can't make anything of it.

[dothawkes31]

I thought it looked like bunting wound around one pillar of the portico

[regulo]

I think the number on the car is most likely a temporary number stuck on for some sort of rally, along the lines of the London Brighton run. Maybe a local event?

[dothawkes31]

Are the 4 men in uniform definately British Army?

[dothawkes31]

mmm I posted a reply but it vanished! The London to Brighton rally only started annually at the end of the 1920s, if this is a wartime event then fuel would not be wasted unless it was a VIP. Still not 100% on those caps as they look very plain. Could they be TA?

[horseshoes]

I assumed it was British because of the AA badge. Zacsmaster - it's interesting that you suggest Kent because some of the other cards I have are from Kent, but also a fair few from Devon (Torquay and Salcombe). Others are from Australia but I do think it's British. Thanks for all your answers and suggestions - I shall follow them all up.

[moonshadow]

The cap badges look like one of the Guards Regiments.The AA badge dates around 1907 as the AA joined with the Motor Union around that time and the logo's were merged. The AA initials became interlocked to form an M ,as there are no wings over the letters the date will be around 1907.

[dothawkes31]

Interestingly the Territorial Army was formed in 1907 at the instigation of King Edward

[horseshoes]

I think we're spot on with the date then, because the 2 Salcombe, Devon postcards are dated 1907.