10Q

 Arnold Circus

Dates from circa 1890

Constructed by Metropolitan Board of Works

Completed by London County Council

Architect Owen Fleming (who was just 23 years old).

The dissolution of the monasteries circa 1530 released land into private ownership.   Notably, solicitors would purchase land as Trustees on behalf of deceased clients.  

The history of the development of the land  is recorded as being originally commenced circa 1680 by John Nicol of Gray's Inn.  He constructed seven houses and leased the remaining land to Jon Richardson who dug the ground to make bricks (London clay).  Housing was constructed without an overall plan.  By 1820's the site contained an excess of poorly constructed houses.  The lack of infrastructure created a filthy environment with no sewerage or made roads.  The houses lacked foundations, sanitation and were over crowded.

In this area generally, land was leased from owners by builders who used cheap building materials such as Billysweet' a cement made from the by-products of soap making instead of lime mortar.  This never dried out and lead to sagging and unstable walls.

The influx of Protestant Huguenots from France circa 1680 created a need for cheap housing and buildings suitable for them to carry out their trade.   Many were silk weavers and many properties featured 'long lights' or weavers windows in the upper storey of houses which allowed as much daylight as possible for the weavers to carry out their work.

With no planning control the area became a notorious slum recorded in the fictional work of Arthur Morrison 'A child of Jago'.

Several of the streets had Jago as part of their name.   Jago originates from Cornwall and derives from the name Jacob.

Charles Booth named the area 'the most povety stricken in London' and his surveys of the area show it to be vicious, semi-criminal/criminal.

 Cambridge

 Euston

 Holborn

 Ludgate

 Manor

 Oxford

 Percy

 Picadilly

 St Georges

Seven Dials

Though not technically called a circus, Seven Dials is a junction where seven lanes meet.

Dates from 1690's

Was Built by licence on green fields

Land owner - The Worshipful Company of Mercers

Architect - Thomas Neale

Original plan was for six roads leading the the centre:

Little and Great Earl Street - renamed Earlham Street

Little and Great White Lyon Street - renamed Mercer Street

Queen Street - renamed Shorts Gardens (the seventh street)

Little and Great St Andrews Street - renamed Monthmouth Street

Design

The layout of the development focussed on maximising the frontage of the properties rather than the square footage of the houses.   This maximised the income from rental.

Originally the plan allowed for six roads, however a seventh, Queen Street was added.

Column

At the centre is a column containing six sun dials - the number of roads orginally proposed  It is said that the column itself acts as the seventh dial.  

The original column designed and constructed by Edward Pierce circa 1693 - 94 was dismatled in 1773 and now can be found in Weybridge.

A second column was constructed in 1988 following the original design and details of Queen Beatrix can be found at the base.

Public Houses

It is said that at one time each of the apexes contained a pub.   Now only The Crown - pictured remains.   The seven pubs each had a cellar and it is rumoured that tunnels interconnected each pub so customers wishing to escape the authorities could 'disappear'.

History

Originally built to attract wealthy residents, the area was not as popular as Thomas Neale had planned and became a slum with a grim reputation.

However, attacted by cheap accommodation in 1800's many workers moved into the area and though still not the desirable residence of Neale's vision, the area started to attract better businesses.

Today it is a tourist attraction and full of independant shops and restaurants, and benefits from it's close proximity to Covent Garden.

http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2012/12/28/how-the-worlds-first-underground-railway-was-built/

London Buses

Visit Brooklands Museum, a short bus ride from Weybridge Railway Station, to see not only the last surviving section of the Brooklands car racing circuit famous for its pre second world war racing events.   Built of concrete it was very uneven and as cars became faster, the track became dangerous with cars flying over the top of the steep embankment and crashing outside of the course.   The circuit was closed in the 1930's but activities on site continued through the second world war and the volunteers are very obliging and will bring history, life and colour to the machines, aircraft, cars including one of the models of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a film based on the book by Ian Fleming, bicycles and buses, the Trust has worked to restore.

The collection of London buses is exceptional in that not only can you see fully restored buses but also the progress of a bus in course of restoration.  

Whereas the traveller may concentrate on the route number of the bus, look again and in close proximity you will notice that each bus also clearly has not only a number plate but also an ID.  Brooklands Trust out bid an American buyer to secure RT1 paying £100,000 to keep it in the UK.

Regularly through the year the buses are driven out of their garage and drive around the grounds of Brooklands and this year on the Saturday before the London Marathon all the roadworthy buses drove to London for a day out.

www.brooklandsmuseum.com

All London buses display three numbers. Our attention is drawn to the Route Number on the front of the bus which shows which direction the bus is going.   All buses have a vehicle registration number plate at the front and rear. Finally, they have an identifying number issued when they are purchased from the manufacturer.

You can see RT1 in the image.   This stands for Regina Three 1, the first of the Regina Three models to be purchased by the bus company.

The letter G stands for Guy

The letter D stands for Denis (the same company as made the Denis fire engines)

London Bus Images taken at Brooklands London Bus Museum

Each bus has its own ID number clearly visible.  This is RT1

A beautifully restored bus

Buses are restored by the volunteers.  It is an expensive task with the wood for the above vehicle costing around £10,000.00.

Many of the Routes are similar to the original route.

This is Route 8 to Old Ford