Impossibly vivid even by John Hinde's legendarily saturated standards, this chrome-era postcard plants a tall, immaculate City of London Police constable centre-frame on Ludgate Hill — white armband gleaming, one hand extended in a stop gesture that commands both traffic and the viewer's eye. Behind him, a red AEC Routemaster double-decker bound for Liverpool Street (registration LLU 525) fills the frame, St Paul's Cathedral's south transept portico rising in the background, while women in knee-length coats shepherd a small child across the road. The photo credit reads "E. Ludwig, John Hinde Studios" — Ludwig being one of the German-born photographers who gave John Hinde cards their signature hyper-real glow. Postmarked South Kensington, S.W.7, 1 May 1979, and sent by air mail to Mr & Mrs Marion Walker of Sharon, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. The senders — Helen and Norman — write cheerfully: "Arrived OK but don't have our internal clocks adjusted to the new time. Leave London for Wolverhampton today. Has inflation hit here in the last 2 years!!" A perfectly time-capsule snapshot of 1979 Britain.