Which Coronation?

 At the end of this week, 6th May, we will be celebrating the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla.  We've been calling him Prince Charles since the last coronation so I still have to think about his new title before I say or write it.  There will be more than enough column inches after the weekend without this blog adding to it.  So let's reflect on previous coronations.

Until Fleetville actually arrived – in fact until virtually the whole of our East End – the people who will have lived here will have experienced their fifth coronation, but might have been the sixth if only Edward VIII hadn't left in such a hurry in 1936.

Edward VII 9th August 1902

Since, for many of our East End residents in 1902, the Coronation will have been a largely 
unseen event, we can now see the family who were the prime hosts: Edward VII and Queen 
Alexandra.  Rather fewer children are shown off in this generation: Princess Mary; George,
future king George VI, who replaced Edward; Henry, Duke of Gloucester; Prince Edward,
Duke of Windsor (who will feature again briefly in 1936).
COURTESY NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

After the death of Victoria the previous year the first celebration for us was on 9th August 1902.  So, what did the Herts Advertiser have to inform it readers about the Edward VII coronation in those days before even radio?  There was no local newspaper photography either.  

"In the Abbey of Westminster, the spectacle was one of incomparable splendour, for here, in their gorgeous coronation robs, were gathered the most distinguished personages of the King's realm and many illustrious guests, every seat being filled by an eager and expectant throng.  At nine o'clock the preliminaries of the great office began."

Paragraph after paragraph, for three full columns, painting in words the ceremony itself, and beside it, for the benefit of our individual tick lists, the local great and good attending for their own celebration in the city at an unspecified venue.  Only second were listed the "personages" who had been invited to the main event in Westminster.

George V 2nd June 1911.

Rather than illustrate the event with another typical "Royal correspondent" page of words, we skip along to the newsagent to pick up our commemorative copy of the Illustrated London News. 

These are the guests you will never have met and probably have never heard of, but 
important enough for the Press to possess a photograph of them, taken, as the term
was used "at a sitting".

Artists had designed expansive black and white drawings of the anticipated pageantry, both in the Abbey and the carriage drives in the vicinity, enabling the maximum number of flag-wavers to glimpse a royal or other "personage" or two.  A double page spread provided the 1911 version of the invited guest tick list in portrait photography.

Edward VIII missed his coronation; there hadn't been sufficient time to organise the event before he decided he didn't wish to play the part of King, being satisfying with a quiet life in exile with Wallis.

George VI (actually David) 12th May 1937

1937: we are still in the age of black and white.

COURTESY THE HERTS ADVERTISER

Queuing outside the Capitol Cinema in London Road.  Today we would have to queue along
the pavement and down the steps at the side.  On this occasion the queuers felt confident enough
to stop what little traffic there was.
COURTESY THE HERTS ADVERTISER

The first opportunity the Herts Advertiser had of a full page photograph from the ceremony,  arriving in time for publication two days later, although the national newspapers would have made the front page the following morning – the London evening papers probably beat them to it though for the Late Edition on Coronation Day.

Although an edited film was released for mass consumption this queue outside the Capitol Cinema in London Road (now the Odyssey) were waiting to be admitted to participate in a service of commemoration for the Coronation.

Elizabeth II 2nd June 1953

This is the one most referred to of course for its mass television viewing, street parties, celebration mugs full of sweets, and the little book "Elizabeth Our Queen".  Newsreel film was shot – in black-and-white – but if you were prepared to wait the colour Coronation film was shown at most cinemas about a week later. It was certainly the first colour Coronation the majority of us had experienced if we were patient.

And if you were born after 1953, sorry, you missed it, so next Saturday is your chance.  

More people than ever were able to travel to London and walk the route before or after the day – oh, and yes, it was cold and wet, as you are probably boringly tired of being reminded!  But we could buy a copy of the full service, but television was so fascinatingly new, children's eyes were glued to the screen, even for children sitting on the pavement outside an electrical shop whose owner had left his demonstration tv on for the day.

One unimportant but reassuring fact.  For all the hundreds of thousands of commoners who lined the Coronation route roads, having picked their damp places the previous day, I have not seen a single photograph where the authorities thought it necessary to line the kerbs with steel crowd fencing.  We knew our place; we didn't need reminding.

This half crown brochure gave you all the details they think you'd need to know if you
"went live", except the locations of public toilets, which would have been annoying!

Will the number of street parties next weekend be greater than the number of parties in 1953?  We know that in 1953 the celebrations had to be spread over a period of time as tables and chairs, and venues not actually on the street, had to be shared out.  Many were also held over until better weather prevailed!

Beaumonts was a young estate in 1953, and there were plenty of children.  In addition to sit-down
teas at tables arranged in the road space, games kept everyone happy.
COURTESY JENNY BOLTON

Your town or village wasn't getting into the swing of the celebration if there wasn't a parade of some kind, probably leading to an entertainment of some kind.  Because of the distance required to create a worthwhile parade the St Albans version began near Oaklands, vehicles lining up in Oakwood Drive and snaking their way towards the city centre and then to Verulamium; very similar to the parades supporting the St Albans Festivals from the 1970s.

... and the next vehicle in the parade is ...  There was a good crowd on 2nd June, and crowd fencing in those day wasn't deemed necessary.  The background buildings were the Rats' Castle on the left
and Ballito Hosiery Mill on the right.  Both buildings had festoons of little lights at gutter level.

Arthur Road added to the festival atmosphere with flags across the street, a fancy dress 

competition – or perhaps they dressed up just because they wanted to!

All sorts of comparisons will be made with 1953: television viewership; hours of screen time; numbers of parties; interest in the event generally; profit made from retail sales.

And I don't know whether you noticed, we seem to like summer months, dates in the first half of the month, or 2nd June (two of those).  Enjoy.

The Co-op Arrives

An early St Albans Co-operative Society grocery shop soon after the Society's formation in 1902.

 This week the focus for a photograph and building has only one problem: we don't know where it was, or rather, I have little idea of its whereabouts.  All I know is the obvious, because it says so on the fascia.  St Albans Co-operative Society. We see a fine establishment, apparently intending to go places; four assistants plus the manager, and much money spent on the shop frontage so clearly not for a location in the suburbs.  The style is in the typical design of the opening decade of the 20th century.

We know that the St Albans Co-operative Society expanded into other nearby towns, such as Hatfield, Harpenden and Hemel Hempstead, but of these only Hatfield had opened in the very early years.  Perhaps in St Albans Road and possibly near Tingeys.  But when did shops at Harpenden and Hemel launch?

But we should begin, as they say, at the beginning.  The Co-operative movement arrived in St Albans in 1902.  It is from the St Albans Society's Golden Jubilee booklet that we learn of the early shops that were open to its members.

The first grocery shop opened in London Road, in the same year of its formation.  Unfortunately I was unable to identify the premises, and critically for SACS a serious fire destroyed the building within a year.  So if that was the premises above, what an early end to this story!

The Society quickly obtained a short lease on 13 Verulam Road, which today is the location of Pizza Express.  Kelly's directories suggest the shop opened in c1906 and remained open until around 1914.  However, although the shop is shown attached (to number 11 on the left) there is no attachment where the fence is to the right, but we know that an attached building (number 15) was present at the time.  Which means the photograph is not 13 Verulam Road.

The Co-op bakery was build in Castle Road in 1914, its Hatfield grocery opened in the same year, and a bakery shop traded at 89 London Road.  The latter probably opened after the Fleetville bakery and therefore possibly not until the end of the war.  By which time shop front design had changed somewhat and would probably have been plainer at the lower end of London Road.  The bakery shop may have had a short life here as there is no mention of it in Kelly's directories. Today it exists just upstream of Gabriel Square.

A push to Fleetville took place in 1922 and Cambridge Road c1940. Warrior House and the Society's Central Hall was also opened in 1921/2.

We have therefore excluded any further possibilities for the shop in the top photograph, and from the evidence and possibilities above we can conclude that the location could have been

1.  The unknown numbered London Road premises in its opening year – an appropriate year for the Society to engage a professional photographer, but not to suffer a catastrophic fire; or

2. The Hatfield Shop which opened c1914. Much may depend on its exact location; or

3.  A location known by one of our readers.  Remember, key clues might be the building to the left, the space to the right, and what can be seen in the reflections from the display window.

Over to you!

Allotment Committee

 No, please don't stop reading!

This is the second committee meeting minutes book (B) for the Camp
Allotment Society which was launched in 1914.

We all know committee meetings are one of life's least interesting punctuations in our lives if we have ever found ourselves "on the committee" for whatever activity has taken our fancy.  The procedures have probably changed little over the past one hundred years, and we now have the opportunity of proving it in a modest way.  A few years back a copy of the Camp Allotment Society's minute book for the period 1922-23 came into the possession of the now defunct Fleetville Diaries.  While the pages are certainly far from a riveting read they do provide an interesting insight into the way land was – and still can be – managed by members of the local community; a direct derivation of the mid 19th century enclosures.  Small plots of ground were made available cheaply for those without gardens or living in cramped city accommodation, including flats.

Allotment ground at Springfield, between Cell Barnes Lane and Camp Road in 1927. The back
gardens appear to be fully worked and an extension to the allotments are already marked out
ready for occupation.  Compare with the same ground below.
COURTESY BRITAIN FROM ABOVE

The same Springfield Allotment ground in the 21st century.
COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH

As cottage or terraced homes with tiny rear gardens were built in the Camp and Fleetville, allotment grounds were allocated to residents who required them on a nearby field.  There were examples of common growing spaces on spare building plots between houses, which may have only remained worked for a few years as new homes grew around them. The management of these grounds in the early days is unknown but may have been directly via the Council as the wartime allotments were, but by 1914 the Camp Allotment Society (SOC) had been formed.

But the largest single allotment site, comprised of several fields or part fields, developed in the late 19th century and at its height remained a huge vibrant growing zone with several hundred plots until the 1950s, after which much of it was nibbled away for new residential developments.  The Camp Allotments, now much smaller in area is, however, still thriving.  From the back of Camp Road houses to Cell Barnes Lane, and even as far as London Road in places; and from Hill End Lane or later Drakes Drive to parts of the Gaol Field on the boundary of upper Camp Road facing the town.  Until, that is, until the houses came along.

Stephen Simmons working his allotment behind Windermere Avenue 
c1925.

While there were several other allotment grounds in the city, it appears CAS was frequently referenced as an exemplar body by the Council for other potential organising groups. It recommended prospective committees maintain contact with the way things are done at CAS.

It's "headquarters" building was in Guildford Road, no doubt the base for its meetings and the site of a members' shop where allotment holders could purchase a range of accessories, seeds and other items. By purchasing in bulk the Society was able to re-sell co-operatively at lower prices.

Camp Allotment Society headquarters and members' shop was in Guildford Road.  The site of this former building is now housing.
COURTESY MIKE KING

Here are a few notes from meeting minutes during the year 1922-23. The cost of hedge trimming around Allotment Field was £1.10s (£1.50).  For those of us owning sheds, the felted roofs were in frequent need of repair.  Notice boards were acquired for various locations around the allotments area. The acquisition was from one or more members who had voluntarily constructed the boards. There was a good balance in the account and it was proposed that some of this was to be transferred to a savings account.  New members were accepted by being formally proposed and seconded in traditional style.

Wartime allotment ground adjacent to Beechwood Avenue (left).  The L shaped roads are
Chestnut Drive and Woodland Drive north.  Although the image was taken in 1946 it appears
that while fully laid out not all of the plots had probably been worked during the wartime
years.
COURTESY HISTORIC ENGLAND RAF SURVEY

For those who wish to read the fine detail of the Allotments Act 1922 it is freely available online.  CAS worked at it the old-fashioned way; one committee member received a copy of the Act, probably from His Majesty's Stationery Office, and then gave a lecture on its  provisions at a subsequent meeting for members.

SOC was purchasing in large quantities; for example, one thousand poultry rings, half a ton of corrugated iron.  A quarter bushel of broad beans were ordered (a bushel was seemingly equivalent to 25 kilograms, but this was related to corn; the density and therefore mass of beans might be different – any ideas?)

A section of the  Springfield Allotments in recent years.

Contributions of vegetables were requested for a stall being run in aid of the District Nursing Association.  There was much discussion about adherence to "Rule 2 of the Allotment rules".  This will only mean something to the rest of us, of course, if only we knew what rule 2 was all about – any ideas?  Pegging out the boundaries of more allotments indicated SOC was still expanding.

Warning: as I plough through the minute book other gems are likely to be revealed, and the length of this post may therefore become extended during the next few days!

One member of the committee is co-opted onto the City Council's Allotments Committee; in 1923 this was Mr Bennett.  Members who had purchased King Edward seed potatoes from the stores were  asked to return any bad examples to the stores – clearly CAS had acquired a suspect batch.  The City Surveyor offered CAS quantities of ash from the dust destructor.  A members' lecture was given by Mr Braybrook on the topic of artificial manures.  Much discussion was had over several meetings on the purchase of pea and bean sticks.  It was decided to display "Notices of Trespass" on the allotments'   noticeboards.  This was followed by a decision to acquire wire netting to cover the windows of the hut, suggesting that these two items were connected. Mr Mardell was asked to clear rabbits from the hedge around the allotments.  The committee discussed the possibility of purchasing a plot of land in Hedley Road for a store; another possibility could be land in Sutton Road.  Two members were to be paid to cut the weeds on allotment ground not currently under cultivation.

And so the daily and weekly routines of organising the Camp Allotment Society continue their seasonal cycles; which probably replicated those of countless allotment groups across the nation in the 1920s.  Indeed allotment club sheds or garages are still opened for store sales on weekend days, while providing opportunities for keen members to engage in cultivating conversations.  In fact, wherever two or more allotmenteers gather around their plots you will find tips and trials will be mulled over and sample harvests exchanged among neighbouring friends.  Very social!

And In 1933

 The majority of the items of news appearing in the Herts Advertiser in 1933 were not sourced from our East End, but from within the 1879 city boundary.  It took a considerable number of years for the outer areas to become established and for news on the east side to become routine.  Consequently, if you lived in Camp, Fleetville or further East you may have become knowledgeable about the established city, but residents of the inner areas may have been less inquisitive about their neighbours in the East End.  

Here is a random selection of topics reported in the Herts Advertiser  during 1933.

Behind this frontage was the cattle market with its vehicle access where the planters have been
placed.  Bon Marche and then British Home Stores arrived.  But behind these buildings was the
Market Hall and the market.  Travelodge is responsible for the wonderfully blue skies in its
recent photograph. 
Courtesy Travelodge

The Market Hall (behind where BHS was until recently replaced by Travelodge) was an essential part of the cattle market.  Meals were dispensed on market days and meetings on other days. It was a civic restaurant during the war.  Entertainments probably began in 1933 when the hall was first used for recreational and occupational activities for the unemployed.

A view of the Handley Page buildings from the Midland Railway.
Courtesy St Albans Museums

Anyone who could  afford the five shillings (now 25p) could take a flight over St Albans from St Julians Aerodrome – where Handley Page Aircraft was shortly to arrive, and where in future there may freight movements!

Doggetts Way was one of the early St Julian's estate streets developed adjacent to 
St Stephen's Hill.
Courtesy Google Street View

A number of homes were for rent or sale at St Julians estate.  Guided by the new Town Planning Act 1919, it was reported to be "well town-planned".  These houses were in Wilshere Avenue and Doggetts Way, but the item made no mention of them being adjacent to the Gas Works; instead "next to St Stephen's Hill" was emphasised.

A photograph appeared of the four generations of the Rollings family, who arrived in the mid 1920s and developed an important wholesaling business.  East Enders would have recognised this family name.

Gas street lighting in George Street.

The council had recently agreed a contract for providing electric street lights to replace the gas lanterns.  Many Camp and Fleetville residents would have been grateful for any kind of street lights instead of relying on moonlight.

The Cross Keys Public House on the corner of Chequer Street and London Road, where 
Burton's store was later developed.  Adey & White's gave way to Benskin's. Those with
specific knowledge of pub licences will probably know more of this story.

Benskins Ltd was granted permission to transfer its licence from the Cross Keys. which stood on the London Road/Chequer Street corner, to Beech Bottom where new housing was going up.  The name of the new public house was the Ancient Briton.  Until recently only two pubs were open for trade in wider Fleetville and Camp (The Camp and The Crown); recently added by the Rats' Castle which was just a toddler having opened six years previously.

A early photograph of Stanborough swimming pool when it first opened and before more features
added.

Stanborough Swimming Pool has opened.  This lido-style facility attracted many East Enders, as no progress had been made on sites at the top of Victoria Street, Grange Gardens, St Peter's Street North, Verulamium, or Pondwicks.  We made do with Cottonmill, although in the same year St Albans School opened its own pool (now replaced) in Belmont Hill.

Various public events which had taken place at Clarence Park transferred to Verulamium from 1933 as the site was more spacious. But it was significantly further away from Fleetville, Oaklands or Smallford.

The three well-known pageants which entertained the masses in 1907, 1948 and 1953, were joined by a lesser known and smaller  version in 1933: The Nautical Pageant staged by Rotary on August Bank Holiday Monday – a recreation of a famous war incident, the attack on Zebrugge and other scenes.

Oak Farm, a short distance from Sandpit Lane in Coopers Green Lane, provided space for letting off steam.  A grass track was prepared for off road motor racing.  An East End bonus!

Hundreds of aspiring employees from St Albans were taken on at "de Havs."

de Havilland began moving onto the site around Hatfield Aerordrome; another East End benefit for later years which provided employment benefits at the growing firm.

Most definitely an East End benefit was the Twelve Acre Estate developed in 1933.  Houses for rent in Valerie Close, Campfield Road, Roland Street and Sutton Road.

The Chequers Cinema, first called St Albans Cinema, had played to the St Albans public since 1912.
Entrance to the car park was in front of the large poster board.

East Enders who could walk that far, or pay the bus fare, were able to benefit, along with everyone else, from an enlarged cinema at The Chequers.  The building was lengthened, pushing the screen end further into the car park.  For those who only know The Maltings may be surprised to discover the Chequers Cinema and the Chequer Street Car Park had been here since 1912, the former site of a brewery.

Most of our main post offices have now been dumped into shops but in 1933 the Post Office opened its equivalent to the longest bar.  The new building in Beaconsfield Road for all services extended a full 120 feet long.

The above, of course, were merely the highlights of the year.

Roadie Birthdays

 One hundred years ago (-ish) travelling began to become more exciting for those who owned or otherwise travelled in a motor car; the novel mode of transport for the masses.  In the 1920s the governments of the day encouraged the future with the construction of a large number of regional road links, bypasses and other arterial roads.  Many of them, while built as single carriageways had land reserved from the start to widen into dual two- or three-lane roads as need arose.

The cover of a post WW1 reprint of the 1914 Half Inch to One Mile centred on St Albans. 
Although it shows the red, brown and yellow of the as yet unplanned classification, there
are no road numbers, first introduced from 1923. 

The east end of St Albans benefitted from this largesse with the addition of a highway to bypass Hatfield Road and Watford Road.  It was, of course, part of the North Orbital, or St Albans Bypass, an intended route to skirt outer northern districts of London.  We now know it as the A414, though it was originally numbered the A405. The full scheme would extend from Hatfield to Hertford and onwards to Maldon.  In the opposite direction it was constructed from Garston to Maple Cross, with the awkward section via Watford later neatly skirted as A41 which was then subsumed into the A25.

Which brings us to a more specific birthday, for by 1923 the time had arrived to label main roads more systematically, and in April of that year the plan for Road Classification was born.  A detailed history of of road numbering can be found at the roads website here.

Standard sign for an A class road along St Albans Bypass (North Orbital) at Colney Heath.

We should ask at this point, how did the classification scheme affect St Albans?  For those not familiar with the numbers on road signs and wish to begin with an Ordnance Survey map, A roads were coloured red; B roads in brown and unclassified roads of a given standard or width (including some C roads) in yellow.  From the post-war period was added the Motorway class in blue.  Many of us will also be familiar with the (T) and (M) suffixes representing Trunk routes and A roads with some motorway features. And to add to any confusion parts of some roads are given two numbers, the second in parenthesis as one route leading to another.

Beginning with the most senior classification we are "blessed" with a section of the M25 which hums very close in places, although before this highway the M10 between Park Street roundabout and the M1 at Bricket Wood was provided to speed us on our way.  Now, however, M10 has been downgraded to become A405.  So far we have been bequeathed two motorways and one former motorway.

St Albans bypass, built in the 1920s and thirties, and frequently upgraded since, has three roundabouts between Roehyde and the Noke (former Hummingbird), and one set of traffic lights if you ignore the multi-set at London Colney roundabout.  As indicated above the bypass was part of a longer arterial road numbered A405, although nowadays its number is A414 between the A1(M) and A1001 at Roehyde, and Park Street roundabout.

The former A414 Hatfield Road is now the A1057, an ordinary main road!

We have lost the numbers A5 and A6 in the city (many will say "thank goodness") although London Road and London Colney High Street keep their A status with A1081 (so not A6 something); and St Stephen's Hill, City Centre and Redbourn Road is no longer A5 but A5183.

The main road which snakes its way from St Peter's roundabout, through Fleetville and Oaklands to the Comet was known as the A414 (so the number itself now has an upgrade to the Bypass!) but now joins all of the other four digit conversions.  Although we all know it as Hatfield Road, to everyone else it is officially A1057.

The road to St Albans receives two road numbers, first to complete Comet Way and then the
bracketed Hatfield Road.

Sign along the former ring road for local traffic to the city centre, the route to Hatfield via Sandpit
Lane and shopping destination at The Quadrant.

Just three B roads grace our local patch and one is quite short.  B691 is classified from St Albans Museum + Gallery (or the Town Hall, or the Old Town Hall) to The Crown where, of course it becomes the aforementioned A1057.  No sign confirms the route to or along the B691 so it is simply a number on a database, map, or on Google where road numbers appear to replace street names, even if the latter do prove to be more useful.  The other two B roads are Sandridge Road B651 and Watford Road B4630.

That is it.  Maps identify other roads as unclassified but are not given numbers: Sandpit Lane/Oaklands Lane, the former ring road we are not supposed to name (Batchwood/Beech/Marshalswick/ Beechwood/ Ashley/ Drakes); Camp Road and Cell Barnes Lane.  But you will sometimes discover roads such as Colney Heath Lane and Hill End Lane in yellow, though yellow is used more sparingly in modern online maps such as the fantastic Open Start Maps.

Classified routes through St Albans.
COURTESY OPEN STREET MAP CONTRIBUTORS

Whether the numbering is important for us is debatable but that's probably not the point; it is a system which is given a code, just like every lamp post and road sign has a reference number – they must be important to someone.  But on longer journeys we, or our satnavs, rely on road numbers to help us to our destinations.

Happy 100th birthday A5, and all the rest!