Monday 4 May 2015

Well, the reason I stopped posting here was that I was writing a book on Tangier. It is now published.
This contains a lot of new information about the Petit Socco. UK readers can find it on Amazon.

Sunday 1 January 2012

Happy New Year

I am so sorry that I have let this blog lapse for so long. It is a New Year's resolution of mine to do a lot more with it this year, so watch this space.

Saturday 17 April 2010

British Post Office

For many years the British post office in Tangier was located in or near the Petit Socco. In July 1908 it moved from the location illustrated in my earlier post to one just down the road near the Mosque, in the building that was previously the Hotel International in the Rue de la Marine. It stayed there until July 1938 when it moved to a prominent location on the Boulevard Pasteur.

This is how the British post office looked 1908-38:

Sunday 1 March 2009

French & German Post Offices

This is one of my favourite views of the Petit Socco:


Note the French post office next door to the shop Au Grand Paris, and the little group of schoolgirls outside:

Note also the German post office next door to the Cafe des Postes and the horse waiting patiently outside:

Incidentally, the stamp and postmark on this card are from the Spanish post office.

Early View

This is a very early view of the Petit Socco before the British post office was built. At this time it was located behind the buildings on the left, as shown in the sketch map posted below.


The Spanish post office can be seen on the right of the picture.

Sunday 22 February 2009

The British Post Office 2



This picture shows the Petit Socco looking back towards the Waterport. The German post office is on the right and the Spanish post office in the centre - more about those another time.


The characteristic shape of the British post office sign above the entrance allows us to pick out this building. This is one of the very few cards on which it appears.




Saturday 21 February 2009

The British Post Office


The photograph shows the British post office during the time it was located on the Petit Socco, from 1895 to 1908. It is adapted from Fig 2.3 on p. 31 of my book and also appears in Richard's book.

There are many old postcards of the Petit Socco, some of them showing the post offices, but on very few can you pick out the British post office. The unusual shape of the lettering on the British Post Office sign above the entrance sometimes enables one to pick it out.

Above the British post office was the Bristol Hotel.