We have long been blessed at Cavendish with a set of excellent photographs dating from the late 1920s - very soon after the course was opened in 1925. They show over half of the holes on the course in some detail.
I was delighted when, less than 12 hours after posting the photographs in Sean's course tour, I received by email from Thomas Dai superbly colourised versions of each of the pics. This was completely unsolicited and I had no idea that Dai had such talents in this area.
Suddenly, these old B&W photos come to life, and look as if they were taken last week rather than nearly 100 years ago. Dr MacKenzie's masterpiece can now be seen as he left it!
So enthused was I that at the earliest opportunity I dragged my 18 year-old son up to Cavendish as my assistant and we tramped the course identifying as closely as possible the original vantage points for the pics and taking new ones for comparison.
Allow me to share our (and Dai's) work with you here;
*Original B&W photographs by kind permission of Buxton Museum*Unfortunately no archive photos exist of the first three holes so we join the course tour at the 4th, a 120 yard drop shot hole over a stream. The photos are taken from beside the stream in what is now deep rough and nettles.
Hole #4 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
04 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
04 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
The 5th is a long par 4 playing uphill into the prevailing wind. The photos are taken from the far side of the adjacent 6th fairway. It would appear that the original photographer was looking for pretty pictures rather than a realistic representation of the course from a golfing point of view!
Hole #5 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
05 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
05 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
While Cavendish is largely a moorland course, one of its most attractive features is a woodland of Scots Pines which pre-dates the course. It is marked on MacKenzie's original plans as "Horseshoe Plantation". The 6th green is our first visit to the pines.
Hole #6 (2) by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
06a by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
06 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
We then drive out of the woods on the 7th, a short par 4. As can be seen, the majestic pines have unfortunately become obscured to a large degree by silver birch and a rhododendron understory (AKA the Cavendish Azalea!)
Hole #7 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
07a by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
07a by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
The 7th green
Hole #7 (3) by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
07c by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
07c by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
The photo of the 8th green is another example of one taken from a place that a golfer would hope never to visit. I'd never seen the green from this angle until I went looking for it!
Hole #8 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
08 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
08 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
The front nine concludes with another drop shot over a stream. This green has been rebuilt several times over the last 95 years and still doesn't look as good as the original.
Hole #9 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
09 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
09 by
duncan cheslett, on Flickr
I'll post the back nine later...