Dogs find their way into antique photos with some regularity. Cats? Not so much. Even less so, cats that have a name.
This postcard of a handsome black cat has the following caption:
"Jummy" the Cat which walked from Hampstead to Rugby, a distance of 85 miles, June 1904. It was taken from Rugby to Hampstead in a closed basket.
Underneath is a note:
Are you going to
Rugby Show?
Heard you were in town
last Thursday.
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The postcard, which left Rugby at 9:30 PM SP 7, 1905, contains a cryptic message to a Miss Smith of Heath House, Brinklow, Counventry. The secretive admirer offered this short doggerel, but signed it with only his (or her) initials.
I wish I was I know where,
And I know who was with me.
I wish I had I know what,
And I know who could give me.
C.D.R.? L.B.
I wish I had I know what,
And I know who could give me.
C.D.R.? L.B.
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| Cleveland Plain Dealer 18 September 1904 |
A cat that made a solo trek of 85 miles would be remarkable at any time, and Jummy made the news even in Ohio, as the Cleveland Plain Dealer ran this detailed report in its September 18, 1904 edition. The cat was owned by Mrs. Mark Robinson of No.9 Belsize Grove, Hampstead, and in June 1904 Mrs. Robinson moved to Hampstead from Overslade, which is near Rugby. Her cat was then about 7 years old and a medium sized cat. When furniture began to arrive at his new home, Jummy took exception and disappeared. After several weeks, news came from Overslade that Jummy, thin and rough, had returned to Rugby.
What made this notable was that Jummy could not have seen this route on his first trip to Hampstead because he had been carried there in a closed basket!
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Google Maps shows us a possible pedestrian route northwest from Hampstead in London to Rugby and gives a better
appreciation of the distance Jummy walked. Today this pathway
measures only 78 miles. The world is smaller now, I'm told.
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But I believe Jummy might have taken a longer but easier course. Interlaced between roads and railway tracks is another line of transportation that Google does not recognize - the inland British Waterway system. The section that connects London to Birmingham is now called the Grand Union Canal, and both Hampstead and Rugby are "ports" on this intricate system of narrow canals and locks. Regent's Park which is along the canal is only a modest stroll from No.9 Belsize Grove.
The Grand Union was made from an amalgamation of several 19th century canal companies and is now 137 miles long with 166 locks. Stanfords map store provides this image to which I have added red arrows to show Hampstead and Rugby.
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| Grand Union Canal source: Stanfords |
Wikipedia provides this nice photo of the Hampstead Road Locks in London. What sensible cat would turn down an opportunity to hitch a ride north on a narrowboat? It might be longer, but it certainly would save the paw leather and offer some food and lodging on the journey.
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| Camden Locks, London Source: Wikipedia |
Whether Jummy walked or floated the entire distance back to his purrrferred home, we can never know. Yet it is still a feat worthy enough to record his name in the digital Catalog of internet trivia.
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Last spring on our holiday to Britain, my wife and I had the great pleasure to meet another spirited cat who easily could be one of Jummy's descendants. Starsky lives in Kensal Town, not far from Hampstead and only a block from the Paddington branch of the London canal network. His mistress takes him everywhere and on this holiday, they joined us on a trip to Weardale in the Pennines of the north of England, where Starsky keeps a second home.
On a beautiful June day we took a long walk around the Burnhope reservoir and Starsky insisted on accompanying us (and complained about it too) the whole way. Though he sometimes got carried, he managed to circumnavigate this lake complete with pastures, forests, sheep, and dogs for a distance of nearly 5 miles. A very impressive feat for a medium sized cat.
On our return, Starsky took his boots off to wait for his tea and posed for my camera.
This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
scratch the link for stories on old photographs and maybe cats too.
