Notes and news — October 2024In this issue:
From the Chair
- From the Chair
- GLIAS film night — 27 November 2024
- The smells of Greenwich Marsh
- Chatrai
- Restoration of Crystal Palace Subway complete
- Paddle Steamer Waverley
- Movril
- Maydew House
- New River pipe track
- Lea Valley shipbuilding sheds?
- Brunel Museum
- DL82
- Woolwich anniversary
- The London Archives
- Industrial heritage fair in Coggeshall
- Richmond walk
- Database spotlight 5 (tram relics)
- GLIAS visit to Ciment Pleating Works, 6 July 2024
- Signs and society — housing
- 334news.pdf
The walks have continued over the summer with on 3 August:
'Looking for Dr Pepper's Ghost' led by Martin Watts:
14 participants on a route which included the East India Dock Basin, Trinity Buoy Wharf and City Island, with an explanation on Pepper's Ghost, the original glass for which was made at the Thames Plate Glass Works.
Followed on 7 September by:
'Richmond and Twickenham Riverside'
Seventeen people were led by Peter Finch through Richmond and along the west side of the Thames to Isleworth, an area unfamiliar to many of the participants.
May I take this opportunity to remind you to check the details of our coming events with a visit to Three Mills on 5 October and I look forward to seeing you at SERIAC on 12 October. Then, also, at the Film Evening, with Amanda Huntley and the Huntley Archive, on 27 November.
We are also keeping abreast of the proposals at West Ham Pumping Station and other planning developments. Dan Hayton
GLIAS film night — 27 November 2024
GLIAS are pleased to be arranging an evening of historical films from the John Huntley Archive featuring London's industrial heritage. It will be held at the Cinema Museum near the Elephant & Castle on Wednesday, 27 November 2024, costing ₤10 per ticket (plus 70p booking fee). See the poster at the end of the Newsletter.
Many will remember John Huntley's film nights in the 1980s, often based around industrial subjects and selling out in large venues such as the Fairfield Halls, Croydon. GLIAS are resurrecting the tradition with the help of John's daughter, Amanda, who runs the John Huntley Film Archive. The exciting programme will include films from the early 20th century through to the 1960s on subjects such as railways, canals and other transport, industry, utilities and much more, all shot in London. Many of the films are unavailable elsewhere.
The event will be held at the Cinema Museum (nearest Tubes Elephant & Castle and Kennington) and includes the option of a complimentary guided tour of the museum before the performance. The museum is situated in the Master's House of the former Lambeth Workhouse where Charlie Chaplin spent time and 'houses a unique collection of artefacts, memorabilia and equipment that preserves the history and grandeur of cinema from the 1890s to the present day'. Many of the buildings have been adapted to new uses in the surrounding area.
Please book early because ticket numbers are limited. Book via https://ticketlab.co.uk/event/id/28012The area we now call the 'Greenwich Peninsula' is filling up with everything which is new and fresh and modern. As well as lots of new flats plus the Dome there is a community which is emerging with exciting projects and many ideas. BUT quite honestly, it wasn't always as nice as all that.
It was until quite recently known as Greenwich Marsh — until about 1840 it was all marshy fields, ditches and reeds — with a big Government gunpowder store near where Enderby's is now. There were also gibbeted pirates on the riverside in the 18th century — so it was a beautiful marshland area with lots of wildlife and a few rotting corpses.
In 1871 Edward Ballard was commissioned to investigate bad smells along the riverside — he was a doctor who was a Medical Officer of Health in London. There were complaints from the garrison in Woolwich — and smells tend to spread.
Ballard visited works on the Peninsula in 1870 — one was the Mockford Ordnance Manure Works on the riverside where the Dome stands now. He said they had a store of about 250 tons of waste from cloth manufacture and over 5,000 tons of guano — that's bird droppings — and 'the arrangements for preventing the escape of offensive effluvia are very imperfect'. The other works was the Hills Manure and Vitriol Works. They too stored waste material from cloth manufacture as well as waste leather, bones and bone ash, refuse from sugar bakeries, coprolites, and mineral phosphates and bird droppings.
There were, of course, other works further down river which Ballard also visited. The worst smells were from the skutch works in Erith — and 'the putrid sickening odour from them travels for many miles'. 'Skutch' is waste from horses and leather works and is used to make glue.
I suspect people think that the huge gasworks on the Peninsula was a cause of offensive smells but from the start it was a super efficient modern works conscious of the need to take care. However, before it was built the Greenwich local authority asked them to build the smelliest part of the works at the north end of the site on Blackwall Point — where the Dome is now — so that smells stayed far away from Greenwich while wafting over the north bank of the river.
In the 1930s The United Lampblack Works was in the centre of the Peninsula. Mr Webb's 'dining rooms' were at 159 Tunnel Avenue and he complained of black specks coming from the factory. He described how he made a steak pudding and found it full of specks which looked like currants.
Most people who have lived in the area for more than 10 years will remember the smells from Tunnel Glucose, the sugar refinery which stood on Morden Wharf. Many people actually liked the smell which, they said, 'reminds them of home' while others found it revolting despite the heroic efforts of the Greenwich Environmental Health Team. The unannounced demolition of the factory is another story — but it did include at least one unexpected explosion.
Earlier the Mollassine factory had been nearby where pet food was made from a molasses-based mixture. The smell was known all along the river — remind me to tell you how one day the molasses all escaped and ran down Tunnel Avenue and into the tram lines. Mary Mills
A chatrai *is a decorative feature in Indian architecture. It is a small domed pavilion which is placed on buildings considered to be prestigious. In the Vicwardian period some English architects placed chatrai on their building and there are some examples in London. As well as the chatrai at Finsbury Park there is a good example in the Tottenham Court Road just to the north-west of the Dominion Theatre. This chatrai was gilded and certainly used to look very fine.
There is another chatrai in Oxford Street just to the south-west of the John Lewis department store.
As chatrai are on the top of buildings these architectural features are not always easy to see from ground level. It is worth your while looking out for them and discovering how many more you can find in London.
There is a fine example of a chatrai near the Jack and Jill Windmills in Sussex. This is a war memorial designed by the Indian architect E C Henriques. Bob Carr
* Various spellings, also chatri and chhatri. A chatri is also an umbrella. See GLIAS Newsletter 333, pp7-8
Restoration of Crystal Palace Subway complete
The restoration of the historic Crystal Palace Subway (GLIAS Newsletter February 2022) was completed in time for London Open House weekend in September.
Originally constructed in 1865, the Grade II* listed subway is one of the few surviving elements of the Crystal Palace complex, which was destroyed by fire in 1936.
It was used as an air raid shelter during the Second World War and then became an occasional community event space, before laying derelict for half a century.
Architects Thomas Ford & Partners designed a new roof over the courtyard at the eastern end of the subway, with a view to turning this space into an events venue.
The PS Waverley will be on the Thames and round about the Thames Estuary again this year. Sailings from Tower Pier are planned to take place on September 29 and 30; and October 4, 7, 12 and 13. A full day's outing now costs roughly ₤75. Some of the shorter journeys are relatively expensive; the fare for a single sailing from Tower Pier to Gravesend is ₤43. Bob Carr
Carless Capel (GLIAS Newsletter 332, p4 and GLIAS Newsletter 333, pp13-14) had a real winner with Petrol; nowadays most people in Britain use the term petrol for motor fuel with no idea of the word's origin in Hackney Wick. How were Carless Capel going to do it again with their next product?
They chose the name Movril. Bovril aside, did this stand for something like Motor Vehicle Refined Internal Lubricant?
It is perhaps worthwhile to find out how the word Bovril originated. Fairly obviously Bov comes from bovine but what about vril?
It is quite an interesting story. The word Bovril was invented by a Scotsman, John Lawson Johnston. In the 1870s he had had a contract to supply a million tins of beef to the French army.
The name Bovril came from a novel by Edward Bulwer Lytton who lived at Knebworth House in Hertfordshire *. Johnston took the vril suffix from Lytton's novel, The Coming Race (1871). This novel was popular at the time. The plot of the book involves a superior race of people, the Vril-ya. They obtained their powers from an electromagnetic substance called 'Vril'. So Bovril meant something like strength got from oxen (or cows).
This suggests another origin for the word Movril. Could this new product simply be a higher octane motor fuel? But 30 years on was the novel The Coming Race still generally well-known — sounds unlikely? Bob Carr
* He was a politician as well as a writer and 1st Baron Lytton. Born in 1803 he lived until 1873. Bulwer-Lytton could have become the King of Greece in 1862 but no, he decided not to. Could he possibly be the origin of the somewhat disparaging servants' term 'his nibs'?
Maydew House (GLIAS Newsletter August 2024) is in the London Borough of Southwark, a short distance to the west of the Surrey Commercial Docks. These flats now looks decrepit and neglected which indeed they are, see the photograph taken in July 2024 (right). They have been empty for too long. The intention was to refurbish the building, making the flats desirable again.
Haworth Tompkins' plans, approved in 2018, were to add five stories to Maydew House providing 24 extra flats and to refurbish the rest of the building for further use. It was intended that the work would be finished by the second half of 2023.
Since then there have been protracted arguments and disputes about quite how this work should be done, arguments about asbestos and then about rising costs.
Costs have risen to such an extent that the present local authority now considers that it cannot afford to retain the building. The option now decided upon is demolition which is not environmentally desirable. When this will take place is not entirely clear. Bob Carr
Work is continuing along the New River Pipe Track at Finsbury Park (GLIAS Newsletter August 2024). There is still one more 36-inch cast-iron water main to be relined. A notice displayed at the excavation site at the north end of Finsbury Park Road indicates that the work should be completed by the end of January 2025. Bob Carr
Lea Valley shipbuilding sheds?
British Oxygen had a large establishment in the Lea Valley near Angel Road, Edmonton. To the north-west of their old site, Argon Road is a reminder of their former presence. Argon is the third most abundant gas in our atmosphere.
There are some very large sheds reminiscent of Airship Sheds to the east of Towpath Road at TQ 358 920 which are currently being offered for use as film studios. These seem to be part of Meridian Water Studios. Would anyone build such massive sheds for a film studio, what is the origin of these buildings?
According to Edith Streets, in the 1980s shipbuilding sheds were brought to this area from the Scott Lithgow Shipyard on the Clyde for British Oxygen. Could these present-day sheds have any connection with the shipbuilding sheds from Scotland? You can get a good aerial view of these buildings using the Internet.
The answer is no. Google Streetview 2019, and earlier views, show that the whole site was almost completely cleared. The buildings are recently built. The Scott Lithgow sheds if they did come here may not have been particularly tall, British Oxygen used to make vacuum-insulated tanks hereabouts and it is unlikely this work would require massive headroom.
The question remains, do filmmakers require a great deal of headroom? The answer may be yes, Gate Studios at Boreham Wood were housed in a disused aircraft hangar. See page 37 in the Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Hertfordshire and the Lea Valley prepared by GLIAS members, ISBN 9780952893073.
It is hoped to find out more for a subsequent issue of the Newsletter. Bob Carr
Further to my note in the last newsletter (GLIAS Newsletter August 2024), problems at the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe mean that the museum's developments will not start until the middle of next year. David Perrett
The Epping Ongar Railway, which runs along a former extremity of the Central Line, now has a former London Transport diesel locomotive in its fleet.
The Sentinel Locomotive DL82, powered by a Rolls Royce engine, is one of three locomotives acquired by London Transport in 1971 to replace the last of the former Great Western pannier tank steam locomotives at Neasden and Lillie Bridge depots.
Privately owned, DL82 was previously based at Hardingham station on the Mid Norfolk Railway (GLIAS Newsletter August 2017). It also spent time at an open cast iron ore mine at Corby in Northamptonshire.
Web: www.eorailway.co.uk/the-railway/rolling-stock/loco-dl82/McDonald's first fast-food outlet in Britain was opened in Woolwich in October 1974 1. It is still there, see photograph 1 which shows the commemorative plaque. The 50th anniversary is currently being celebrated, photograph 2.
In 2018 the police installed a metal detector at this McDonald's to deter people carrying weapons from entering the premises. Police officers patrolling nearby then picked out people making a smart U-turn and a number of arrests were made 2.
Perhaps surprisingly there is also a Wimpy Bar in Woolwich in the next street, see photograph 3. Wimpy Bars in Britain were started in 1954, at first as specialist counters within J Lyons Corner Houses. Their popularity led to them being opened as independent premises 3.
Recently Greggs overtook McDonald's to become the UK's most popular takeaway-breakfast seller.
All three Woolwich photographs were taken in August 2024.
1. Page 72, Docklands History Survey GLC 1984, ISBN 978-0716813293. The first McDonald's to open this side of the Atlantic was in Zaandam in the Netherlands in 1971. The first McDonald's in Russia opened in 1990 in Moscow.
2. News Shopper 22 March 2018.
3. In the USA the first Wimpy Bar opened in 1934. The last one there closed in 1977.
I recently visited the renamed London Metropolitan Archives for a hands-on session with some of their Brewery Archives. This appear to be a new venture. They had just 10 or so booked visitors who were able to study in detail a selection of archives relating to the major London Breweries. We were free to examine at will — no white gloves, turn over everything and photography welcome. They do this once a month, the next being on the City's Bridges on 11 October. David Perrett
Their lecture programme includes one on David Kirkaldy and Victorian City 150 Years of Facts on 18 December 5-7pm. See their website www.thelondonarchives.org for full detailsIndustrial heritage fair in Coggeshall
A few GLIAS members ventured out to Essex to visit the Industrial Heritage Fair at Grange Barn, Coggeshall on 14 September.
This restored medieval barn was host to a number of local history society stalls along with displays from further afield, such as the Bata Heritage Centre from East Tilbury.
There were a number of talks and the impressive nearby Abbey Watermill was open, thanks to its owners who gave informative guided tours.
A mill has been on this site since the 12th century, but the current structure was designed as a factory for the woollen-cloth industry in about 1760. From 1840, however, it has operated as a corn mill and still has working machinery which occasionally produces its own flour.
Also available was a locally produced free leaflet entitled 'Coggeshall Industrial Heritage Trail', which allowed visitors to do a self-guided walk around the village. Some of the attractions, such as Dick Nunn's Smithy, were open as well.
It's well worth making a trip out to Coggeshall. All the sites are included on the GLIAS Database (which, of course, extends all over the country). See www.industrialhistoryonline.co.uk/yiho/
Peter Finch has kindly allowed us to publish his notes from the 'Richmond and Twickenham Riverside' walk which he led for GLIAS in early September. You can find these on our website and where applicable we have included links to the GLIAS Database.
See www.glias.org.uk/walks/Richmond-Twickenham-Riverside.htmlDatabase spotlight 5 (tram relics)
I recently spotted this piece of street furniture in the pavement outside County Hall on Belvedere Road, which reads 'LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL TRAMWAYS'. I've subsequently entered it into the GLIAS Database.
I assume this is to do with the electricity supply, but maybe someone can put me right — or add to or improve the Database entry.
It started me thinking what other relics of the tramways in London remain. I would imagine there are several of these covers dotted around.
There are many of the obvious depots, power stations and substations still in existence.
The Database lists the rails leading into the Kingsway Tunnel (below left). And at the St John Street junction with Rosebery Avenue in Islington there is this small slotted cast-iron box in the kerb which is a lever box for tramway points (below right).
What other tramway relics do members know about? Please send them in! Or even better, add them yourself to the Database. Robert Mason
To get involved, or to get logon details for the Database, please contact us at database@glias.org.ukGLIAS visit to Ciment Pleating Works, 6 July 2024
In early July, ten GLIAS members enjoyed a fascinating visit to F Ciment (Pleating) Ltd in Potters Bar. The Managing Director, Matt Weinert, and his father Terry made us very welcome.
Matt believes that the company was established in 1925, initially based in central London, by an Austro-Hungarian called Ferenc Cimenski. They are proudly the oldest remaining pleaters in the UK and capitalise on their heritage and craftsmanship with a loyal clientele from fashion and the arts.
Their website (www.cimentpleating.com) illustrates diverse commissions from Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana, Torvill & Dean, Lady Gaga and Kylie Minogue as well as costumes for Harry Potter, Disney and Game of Thrones and fashion work for Alexander McQueen, Zandra Rhodes and many fashion students.
We saw their two oldest pleating machines in action, made by Ezbelent Fils of Paris, who also produced bicycles, but who ceased manufacture in the 1920s. Both machines are in use daily and are capable of thousands of different configurations by adjustment of cams and screws.
Fabric is sandwiched between two sheets of heavy paper, pleated by an intermittent feed and passed through heated rollers to set the pleats. They produce flat and box pleats while another machine creates accordion pleating. All machines are now driven by individual electric motors and are maintained with affection and ingenuity by Matt and his team. The factory is now in a modern building on an industrial estate, but the smell of oil and machinery evokes earlier workshops.
As interesting to me as the machinery was the craftsmanship demonstrated by Terry Weinert in creation and use of moulds made from very heavy paper to form more complicated patterns such as sunray, starred, scallop, pineapple and pinetree pleats. Again, the fabric is sandwiched between two moulds before being clamped and steamed in a cabinet.
The moulds are geometric and precise — their topography is a combination of origami and higher maths. I recommend the videos showing the process posted on YouTube by the Weinert family at www.youtube.com/channel/UCrdHliFT2ZKM6n7-FH8UzpA.
Chris Rule has since begun research into Ferenc Cimenski and his company, and I look forward to learning more of his findings. Meanwhile, many thanks to Matt and Terry for their enthusiastic hospitality. Tim Sidaway
In the 19th century the population of London almost tripled to some 6 million people, due to the rapid increase in industry and related commercial activities. But then, as very much today, this influx led to severe problems in housing and accommodation.
Then as now, there was social stratification in the availability and quality of the housing that that was hurriedly built to alleviate the situation. This separation of classes is reflected and recorded in the name signs of buildings although now most have been repurposed and upgraded or gentrified.
The working industrial classes were accommodated, if they were lucky, in categories such as Almshouses, Buildings (the Guinness Trust is exemplary), Houses, and Dwellings. The professional and middle classes resided in Mansions, Chambers, Villas, Courts, and Mews.
Most such name plates and signs still exist in excellent condition often made of metal or deeply incised into stone or concrete forming a different type of street furniture and reminders of a London full of industrial workers and their basic needs.
Future photo essays may deal with topics such as health and hygiene, mortality, recreation, schooling, shopping and cash flow. Sidney Ray. All photographs in Central London taken by the author over the past 50 years
© GLIAS, 2024