Friday, November 17, 2017
London, 18th Century
https://www.theundergroundmap.com/map.html .
https://www.theundergroundmap.com/streets.html?id=37052 .
https://www.theundergroundmap.com/wp/ .
https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/history-of-london/
Pinterest London
London GPO Mail Rail
Canadian Mail - Newsreel - 1943 > .
Running from Whitechapel in East London, to Paddington in the west, and snaking all along Oxford Street and under Selfridges, the network was considered so clandestine that it was used to hide the Rosetta Stone during the First World War.
Running from Whitechapel in East London, to Paddington in the west, and snaking all along Oxford Street and under Selfridges, the network was considered so clandestine that it was used to hide the Rosetta Stone during the First World War.
https://www.postalmuseum.org/news/sneak-peek-mail-rail-footage/ .
https://www.postalmuseum.org/discover/attractions/mail-rail-exhibition/ .
https://www.postalmuseum.org/news/playing-with-trains/ .
https://www.postalmuseum.org/news/loco-mule/ .
https://www.postalmuseum.org/ .
https://www.postalmuseum.org/connect/about/our-history/ .
The postal service was founded under Henry VIII, who tasked Sir Brian Tuke with establishing a national postal network to serve his Court. Opened to the public by Charles I in 1635, it became the General Post Office under Oliver Cromwell and subsequently Charles II in 1660. In the early 1800s organisation and safeguarding of records began.
Sir Francis Freeling, a master spy during the Napoleonic Wars and Secretary of the Post Office from 1797 until his death in 1836, took the lead in establishing the foundations of the GPO Archive, when a system for recording minutes and reports was introduced.
In 1838, following the passing of the first Public Records Acts, the General Post Office government department, emphasized record-keeping. By the 1890s, the General Post Office (GPO) HQ in St Martin’s Le Grand, Central London, included a Record Room where the archive of the institution could be studied.
The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit. Headed by John Grierson, it was set up to produce sponsored documentary films mainly related to the activities of the GPO.
https://www.postalmuseum.org/discover/attractions/mail-rail-exhibition/ .
https://www.postalmuseum.org/news/playing-with-trains/ .
https://www.postalmuseum.org/news/loco-mule/ .
https://www.postalmuseum.org/ .
https://www.postalmuseum.org/connect/about/our-history/ .
The postal service was founded under Henry VIII, who tasked Sir Brian Tuke with establishing a national postal network to serve his Court. Opened to the public by Charles I in 1635, it became the General Post Office under Oliver Cromwell and subsequently Charles II in 1660. In the early 1800s organisation and safeguarding of records began.
Sir Francis Freeling, a master spy during the Napoleonic Wars and Secretary of the Post Office from 1797 until his death in 1836, took the lead in establishing the foundations of the GPO Archive, when a system for recording minutes and reports was introduced.
In 1838, following the passing of the first Public Records Acts, the General Post Office government department, emphasized record-keeping. By the 1890s, the General Post Office (GPO) HQ in St Martin’s Le Grand, Central London, included a Record Room where the archive of the institution could be studied.
The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit. Headed by John Grierson, it was set up to produce sponsored documentary films mainly related to the activities of the GPO.
London - Brooklands
Brooklands early compilation > .
Brooklands story > .
Brooklands fate, 1939 > .
1938 map > .
Re-Engineering Brooklands - Andy >> .
Brooklands was a 2.75-mile (4.43 km) motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, which also became Britain's largest aircraft manufacturing centre by 1918, producing military aircraft such as the Wellington and civil airliners like the Viscount and VC-10.
Brooklands closed to motor racing during WW1, was requisitioned by the War Office and continued its pre-war role as a flying training centre although it was now under military control. Brooklands soon became a major location for the construction, testing and supply of military aeroplanes.
Brooklands Aviation Ltd was formed in 1931 - with Percy Bradley, Duncan Davis, Fred Sigrist and Ted Jones as Directors - to operate the aerodrome, and commissioned British airport architect Graham Dawbarn to design the Art Deco Brooklands Aero Clubhouse, which opened in May 1932. The company also operated the resident Brooklands School of Flying which was registered as a limited company in 1931 with Duncan Davis and Ted Jones as Directors, as well as those at Lympne, Shoreham and Sywell Aerodromes in the later 1930s. The original pre-WW1 Brooklands Aero Club was re-formed by the BARC in May 1930 with Percy Bradley as Manager and the Brooklands Flying Club was established by Brooklands Aviation in early 1933.
During WW2, Brooklands Aviation became a contractor to the Civilian Repair Organisation, repairing various types of damaged aircraft, particularly Vickers Wellingtons. After ending its RAF flying training in 1946, the company diversified and built plywood and GRP cabin cruiser boats designed by Alan Eckford, until 1974.[19]
The first flight of the Hawker Hurricane, later a fighter aircraft in the Battle of Britain, occurred at Brooklands on 6 November 1935.
The circuit hosted its last race in August 1939 and today part of it forms the Brooklands Museum, a major aviation and motoring museum, as well as a venue for vintage car, motorcycle and other transport-related events.
In WW2, the site was again used for military aircraft production, in particular the Vickers Wellington, Vickers Warwick and Hawker Hurricane and was extensively camouflaged. Trees were also planted in some sections of the concrete track to help conceal the Hawker and Vickers aircraft factories there. Despite these efforts, the Vickers factory was successfully bombed by the Luftwaffe and extensively damaged on 4 September 1940 with nearly 90 aircraft workers killed and at least 419 injured. Five unidentified victims were buried in unmarked graves in Burvale Cemetery, Hersham, on 9 September although one of these was later confirmed to be 36 year old William E Hunt. Vickers factory worker Eric S Powell who also died on 4 September 1940 aged 26 and is now believed to be one of the remaining four unidentified casualties buried at Burvale.
The Hawker factory premises were also bombed and damaged two days later but with no loss of life or serious disruption to Hurricane production. On 21 September 1940, Lt John MacMillan Stevenson Patton of the Royal Canadian Engineers risked his life when he and five others manhandled an unexploded German bomb away from the Hawker aircraft factory at Brooklands and rolled it into an existing bomb crater where it later exploded harmlessly - his bravery was subsequently recognised by the award of the George Cross. The crucial role of Brooklands in the Battle of Britain of 1940 is further explained in displays at Brooklands Museum.
After the bombing of Brooklands in September 1940, the Vickers-Armstrongs Design Department (including Rex Pierson, Barnes Wallis and several hundred others) was dispersed to a secret location at the nearby Burhill Golf Course, just East of St George's Hill in Hersham and the Experimental Department led by George Edwards was relocated to temporary premises at Foxwarren in Redhill Road, Cobham. These two facilities played a crucial part in the successful development of the 'Upkeep' mine - better known today as the 'bouncing bomb' conceived by Barnes Wallis and deployed to such devastating effect by the 'Dambuster' Avro Lancasters of 617 Squadron, RAF, led by Guy Gibson against Germany's Ruhr Valley reservoirs on the night of 16–17 May 1943.
The first flight of the Hawker Hurricane, later a fighter aircraft in the Battle of Britain, occurred at Brooklands on 6 November 1935.
The circuit hosted its last race in August 1939 and today part of it forms the Brooklands Museum, a major aviation and motoring museum, as well as a venue for vintage car, motorcycle and other transport-related events.
Racing stopped when WW2 started in September, 1939. The site was turned over to war-time production of military aircraft. Enemy bombs damaged the track and a new access road to the Hawker factory was cut through from Oyster Lane. Temporary dispersal hangars covered other sections.
The Hawker factory premises were also bombed and damaged two days later but with no loss of life or serious disruption to Hurricane production. On 21 September 1940, Lt John MacMillan Stevenson Patton of the Royal Canadian Engineers risked his life when he and five others manhandled an unexploded German bomb away from the Hawker aircraft factory at Brooklands and rolled it into an existing bomb crater where it later exploded harmlessly - his bravery was subsequently recognised by the award of the George Cross. The crucial role of Brooklands in the Battle of Britain of 1940 is further explained in displays at Brooklands Museum.
After the bombing of Brooklands in September 1940, the Vickers-Armstrongs Design Department (including Rex Pierson, Barnes Wallis and several hundred others) was dispersed to a secret location at the nearby Burhill Golf Course, just East of St George's Hill in Hersham and the Experimental Department led by George Edwards was relocated to temporary premises at Foxwarren in Redhill Road, Cobham. These two facilities played a crucial part in the successful development of the 'Upkeep' mine - better known today as the 'bouncing bomb' conceived by Barnes Wallis and deployed to such devastating effect by the 'Dambuster' Avro Lancasters of 617 Squadron, RAF, led by Guy Gibson against Germany's Ruhr Valley reservoirs on the night of 16–17 May 1943.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklands .
https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/explore/our-history/buildings-and-landmarks/race-track .
https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/day-luftwaffe-bombed-vickers-4849006 .
Sywell Aerodrome (IATA: ORM, ICAO: EGBK) is the local aerodrome serving the town of Northampton, Wellingborough, Kettering and Rushden, as well as wider Northamptonshire. The aerodrome is located 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) northeast of Northampton and was originally opened in 1928 on the edge of Sywell village.
https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/day-luftwaffe-bombed-vickers-4849006 .
Sywell Aerodrome (IATA: ORM, ICAO: EGBK) is the local aerodrome serving the town of Northampton, Wellingborough, Kettering and Rushden, as well as wider Northamptonshire. The aerodrome is located 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) northeast of Northampton and was originally opened in 1928 on the edge of Sywell village.
The 1930s Art Deco hotel has bar and restaurant facilities.
Brooklands Aviation won a War Department contract for pilot training for the Royal Air Force. and opened No. 6 Elementary Flying Training School at Sywell (near Northampton) on 10 June 1935, training pilots with a fleet of 20 de Havilland Tiger Moths, and in 1937 the RAF Volunteer Reserve School was set up at Sywell with a further 16 training aircraft.
During the WW2 the aerodrome, as RAF Sywell, was used as a training facility (Tiger Moths) and later an important centre for the repair of Wellington bombers; extensive sheds from this time still remain on the site. Among World War II pilots who underwent training at Sywell were Pierre Clostermann and Paddy Finucane, who soloed here. Many aerial shots for the film Battle of Britain were taken over the airport and nearby area.
London - 30s, WW2
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London during WW-II in color > .Life In London During The Blitz | Cities At War: London | Timeline > .Why the V1 Flying Bomb couldn't turn the tide of WW2 - IWM > .
00:00 South side of Westminster Bridge looking over to the Houses of Parliament. Probably blitz-damaged St Thomas's Hospital on the left.
00:37 Buckingham Palace with "Guards" in Khaki uniform. On Sunday 18th June 1944, a German V1 flying bomb fell on the Guards' Chapel in Wellington Barracks on Birdcage Walk, just a few hundred yards from the Palace, during Morning Service. 121 soldiers and civilians, including the presiding Chaplain, were killed, 141 were seriously injured.
00:58 The "Upper" Pool of London from London Bridge, river Thames.
01:16 Cigar shop near Piccadilly Circus, corner of Coventry Street and Great Windmill Street
02:16 Trafalgar Square. All the art treasures form the National Gallery at the top of the Square had been removed to secure storage sites in mines and caves at the outbreak of War.
03:12 Back to the "Upper Pool".
04:09 "Blitz" bomb damage in the City of London. Many of these "bomb sites" were still there, overgrown with vegetation and weeds in the early and mid 1950's.
04:20 Holborn with St Andrews church.
04:48 Back to the Piccadilly Circus cigar shop, and you can see the covered-over statue of "Eros" far left, to protect it from war damage. Looking towards Regent Street.
06:08 Looking across the River Thames from the Embankment to the "Shot Tower" on the left and the "Lion Brewery" on the right, on Waterloo''s South Bank. The brewery, together with a lot of bomb damaged slum housing, would be swept away to make room for the 1951 "Festival of Britain" site, but the Red Lion statue now stands at the bottom of the entrance to Waterloo main-line railway station in York Road.
06:25 Great Windmill Street, near the famous Windmill Theatre
06:50 More "Blitz" damage near Christ Church Greyfriars (still in ruins today)
07:15 "Blitz" damage in the City near Tower Hill.
07:40 St. Paul's Cathedral: Christopher Wren's masterpiece stands almost undamaged among the "blitzed" buildings.
08:04 More "Blitz" damage near (Location?)
08:45 A barrage balloon Goes Up in Westminster Gardens near the Houses of Parliament. The Balloon fabric" was a hard-wearing material with many uses in much demand in "austerity Britain" after the War!
09:36 Women's Royal Army Corps personnel being instructed at an Anti- Aircraft battery in Hyde Park.
10:10 Might not be a gun, but a range-finder used to determine the altitude of a hostile aircraft. 11:10 Piccadilly Circus. Eros is "unclothed" and the motor vehicles and dress look pre-War. This footage is from the 1930´s. Apologies for overlooking this.
11:29 Trafalgar Square.
12:04 Hyde Park Corner, maybe pre-War. The railings haven't been taken away to "build Spitfires", and Speakers' Corner is thriving, which was not allowed during the War.
12:30 Waterloo Station. A "king Arthur" Class locomotive brings in an express from Bournemouth or the South West of England. 1930s footage.
13:33 A "Mogul" brings in another train - note the porters hurrying towards the First-Class coaches! Probably pre/war. Rail travel was restricted during the War. "Is your journey really necessary?" and one would expect to see many more people in uniform, Royal Naval personnel travelling to and from "Pompey" and Devonport, as well as "brown jobs", among the passengers.
Certainly the Southern Railway wouldn't be advertising "Summer Fares" at the ticket barrier,
15:53 A reprise of "Blitz" damage near Holborn, St.Andrews Church (at a different time of day)
15:58 Policemen near Philip Lane and Aldermanbury Avenue (now "Route-11")
16:04 Another barrage balloon goes up, near the Tower and Tower Bridge (location?)
16:17 Back to Piccadilly Circus, looking towards Shaftesbury Avenue
16:30 VE Day celebrations, this is definitely 8th May 1945.
Bomb damage, close up filming of the release of barrage balloons, anti-aircraft gun positions, traffic at Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, military parades in front of Buckingham Palace, beautiful scenes of the Thames during daytime and at dusk, Waterloo Station, etc.
00:37 Buckingham Palace with "Guards" in Khaki uniform. On Sunday 18th June 1944, a German V1 flying bomb fell on the Guards' Chapel in Wellington Barracks on Birdcage Walk, just a few hundred yards from the Palace, during Morning Service. 121 soldiers and civilians, including the presiding Chaplain, were killed, 141 were seriously injured.
00:58 The "Upper" Pool of London from London Bridge, river Thames.
01:16 Cigar shop near Piccadilly Circus, corner of Coventry Street and Great Windmill Street
02:16 Trafalgar Square. All the art treasures form the National Gallery at the top of the Square had been removed to secure storage sites in mines and caves at the outbreak of War.
03:12 Back to the "Upper Pool".
04:09 "Blitz" bomb damage in the City of London. Many of these "bomb sites" were still there, overgrown with vegetation and weeds in the early and mid 1950's.
04:20 Holborn with St Andrews church.
04:48 Back to the Piccadilly Circus cigar shop, and you can see the covered-over statue of "Eros" far left, to protect it from war damage. Looking towards Regent Street.
06:08 Looking across the River Thames from the Embankment to the "Shot Tower" on the left and the "Lion Brewery" on the right, on Waterloo''s South Bank. The brewery, together with a lot of bomb damaged slum housing, would be swept away to make room for the 1951 "Festival of Britain" site, but the Red Lion statue now stands at the bottom of the entrance to Waterloo main-line railway station in York Road.
06:25 Great Windmill Street, near the famous Windmill Theatre
06:50 More "Blitz" damage near Christ Church Greyfriars (still in ruins today)
07:15 "Blitz" damage in the City near Tower Hill.
07:40 St. Paul's Cathedral: Christopher Wren's masterpiece stands almost undamaged among the "blitzed" buildings.
08:04 More "Blitz" damage near (Location?)
08:45 A barrage balloon Goes Up in Westminster Gardens near the Houses of Parliament. The Balloon fabric" was a hard-wearing material with many uses in much demand in "austerity Britain" after the War!
09:36 Women's Royal Army Corps personnel being instructed at an Anti- Aircraft battery in Hyde Park.
10:10 Might not be a gun, but a range-finder used to determine the altitude of a hostile aircraft. 11:10 Piccadilly Circus. Eros is "unclothed" and the motor vehicles and dress look pre-War. This footage is from the 1930´s. Apologies for overlooking this.
11:29 Trafalgar Square.
12:04 Hyde Park Corner, maybe pre-War. The railings haven't been taken away to "build Spitfires", and Speakers' Corner is thriving, which was not allowed during the War.
12:30 Waterloo Station. A "king Arthur" Class locomotive brings in an express from Bournemouth or the South West of England. 1930s footage.
13:33 A "Mogul" brings in another train - note the porters hurrying towards the First-Class coaches! Probably pre/war. Rail travel was restricted during the War. "Is your journey really necessary?" and one would expect to see many more people in uniform, Royal Naval personnel travelling to and from "Pompey" and Devonport, as well as "brown jobs", among the passengers.
Certainly the Southern Railway wouldn't be advertising "Summer Fares" at the ticket barrier,
15:53 A reprise of "Blitz" damage near Holborn, St.Andrews Church (at a different time of day)
15:58 Policemen near Philip Lane and Aldermanbury Avenue (now "Route-11")
16:04 Another barrage balloon goes up, near the Tower and Tower Bridge (location?)
16:17 Back to Piccadilly Circus, looking towards Shaftesbury Avenue
16:30 VE Day celebrations, this is definitely 8th May 1945.
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sī vīs pācem, parā bellum
igitur quī dēsīderat pācem praeparet bellum therefore, he who desires peace, let him prepare for war sī vīs pācem, parā bellum if you wan...
