John Benn

1930 paddle steamer John Benn working the Woolwich Ferry in 1960. It was named after the local politician and grandfather of Tony Benn, MP. Woolwich power station dominates the background.

Scanned from a negative in my collection. 

Noddy's

 Proclaims to be "Elm Park's Largest Toy Showrooms", but not many toys in the window! The shop was at 40 The Broadway, Elm Park, Hornchurch, early 1960s at a guess. Scanned from a negative in my collection.

Happy Birthday Brent Cross!

Brent Cross Shopping Centre was opened forty years ago today, on 2 March 1976, amid some speculation that it would remain a 'white elephant' and that no-one would want to shop in such an environment. It was the first of it's kind in London, although pre-dated by those in Birmingham (1964) and Leicester (1973), and of course went on to be a great success.

Built on former allotment and waste ground in the London Borough of Barnet, rather than developed from an existing site, this Dixon's commercial postcard shows the centre when quite new with London Transport RML/DMS/SMS types on service in the adjoining bus station.

Boatmans Institute

In order to educate the children of boatmen on The Grand Union Canal, this school was opened at Brentford in 1904. Built for The London City Mission in the Arts and Crafts style, the architect was Thomas Henry Nowell Parr (1864-1933), who, at the time of it's building, was architect to the local council. Now a private house, it was grade ll listed only in 2000; this view dates from 1985.

Ian Allan book counter

A mouth-watering selection of Ian Allan transport titles at their book counter, apparently at the Meccano showrooms in London, somewhere that I hadn't heard of before. The date of this magazine insert would appear to be around 1962, when the company were probably the most well known transport book publisher in the UK, thanks in no small part to their 'ABC' series of pocket books used by spotters from the 1940s onwards. Looking at this selection, I realise that I have a number of them, although not always in the best condition! There are many well-used copies around, that is, with copious underlings, that unmarked editions can fetch a pretty penny in eBay these days.

On the reverse of the sheet is an order form for the purchase of postcards, mainly from the Locomotive Publishing Company (LPC) series. Ian Allan took over this collection, introduced in 1899, in 1956, subsequently passing to the National Railway Museum in 1992.

Although still a transport book publisher, their catalogue is much reduced and their large stable of magazines have now been sold off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Allan_Publishing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotive_Publishing_Company

1960s in the City

These four photographs were picked up at a local vintage shop. They were a bit battered, but the subjects made the 50p paid for each worth it. A trip through Photoshop soon tidied them up. They were taken around the City of London during the 1960s, the photographer unknown, the reportage style typical of the time. The top view of three be-suited lads was taken at London Bridge, the second is of a couple of boys closely examining a left hand drive Jaguar E-type on Eastcheap.

The third view shows workers at the top of King William Street, whilst the last shows a lady glancing over at traffic which included London Transport RTW312 on route 6 which I think would date these pictures to 1962-64.

Pea souper

With November now upon us, this picture, another from London - Work & Play (Batsford 1950), seems appropriate, although such 'killer fogs' are now things of the past. That in London in 1952 was so bad that it led to the Clean Air Act of 1956, which eventually banned the burning of domestic coal in built-up areas. There was also, at this time, much air pollution from factory chimneys, London still being a manufacturing city. Furthermore, many trains were steam-hauled, particularly on lines north of the Thames.

Hood's of Hammersmith

Another record acquisition, some sixty years older than that in the previous posting. This is made of shellac, rather than vinyl, and the cover is advertising Hood's shop in Hammersmith, selling Bicycles, Radios, Gramophones and records, an interesting combination! The shop in Fulham Palace Road still stands, but the block is largely empty.

The record within is The St Louis Blues, in this case by Hawaiian guitarist Frank Ferera (1885-1951), released in 1925.

Dockland cricket

This interesting picture appeared in London - Work & Play, published by Batsford in 1950 and is credited to Fox Photo's. It shows children playing cricket in Alpha Road, Millwall, using improvised packing cases and bits of wood while the grown-ups look on. I love the sheer incongruity of seeing ships looming above terraced houses, once a common enough sight in Liverpool, Glasgow and elsewhere.

Alpha Road was apparently renamed Alpha Grove at some point, and still exists, although everything around it has been rebuilt, either because of bomb damage or post-war redevelopment. In my 1950s A-Z, it is already down as Alpha Grove, which then stretched up to Millwall South Dock, where the Union Castle Line ship is berthed. There was also a railway line, tantalisingly behind that tall fence......

Agilux

Agilux Ltd was formed just after the war by Aeronautical & General Instruments Co. (AGI) of Croydon in order to manufacturer cameras for the home market, imports being restricted at that time. AGI had been making instruments for the military since 1915 and although cameras ceased to be made in the early 1960s, the company is still in business, operating from Poole, in Dorset.

This advert appeared in Popular Photography magazine, issue dated September 1957. The cameras were unusual in that all components were made by Agilux themselves.

The London Coal Exchange

This engraving originally appeared in volume II of Old and New London, published in the 1870s, although I scanned it from Victorian Taste, by John Gloag (1962).

The London Coal Exchange, Lower Thames Street, was built 1847-49 to the design of the City Corporation's architect, one James Bunstone Bunning (1802-63). Damaged during the war and effectively made redundant with the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947, it survived as offices during the 1950s. Although grade II listed in 1958 due to it's cast iron construction, it was demolished in 1962 to allow widening of Lower Thames Street, this despite a campaign for it's preservation headed by John Betjeman. The loss of this building, along with the Euston Arch the year before, were not total failures however, as they brought conservation to the public's notice and kick-started a movement that went on to save St Pancras station and many others. Ironically, the site of the building was to remain unused as the road plans were changed.

Phyllis Ginger

Phyllis Ginger (1907-2005) was a London-born artist and illustrator whose work included a contribution towards the Recording Britain project which was commissioned early during the Second World War; some 1500 pieces of artwork were produced to record the country before possible destruction, or, as was expected, invasion.

I recently picked up a copy of London, a very personal view by Mrs Robert Henrey, which is illustrated by a number of Phyllis Ginger's watercolours. This was first published in 1948, although my copy appears to be a 1955 edition with a 1970 dust jacket (the picture of Parliament Square has been actually stuck on!).

St Gile's Cripplegate

Piccadilly Circus

Leicester Square

Haymarket