Buildings & Places
Beachy Head Rescue 1962
31 Photos
In 1950 an underground "Air Ministry Radio Station" was constructed on 4 acres of land on the cliff top at Beachy Head. It was in fact part of atop secret Early Warning (CEW) system which remained part of Britain’s defence capabilities until it close a decade later. One Sunday in late September 1963, members of the Demolition team of the 21st SAS Territorial Regiment started to clear the surface buildings. The buildings proved to be stronger than first expected so the team packed in more explosives and tried again. Demolition had to be abandoned until the next day when the manager of the nearby Hotel complained that his windows had cracked. The task of clearing the remaining buildings at this stage was taken over by a local demolition company. Not long after I had taken these photographs, the stairwell access behind the guardhouse was demolished and capped along with the emergency exit, humid air exit and the cable shaft. The only way into the bunker was via a small manhole set into the concrete slab placed over the stairwell. Access remained available to the bunker for a while but due to vandalism then final entrance was finally sealed with large tree trunk that was thrust into the hole by a JCB and back filled with chalk. Today tourists stand now upon the mound above the bunker unaware of the secret rooms and tunnels beneath their feet. For an excellent and detailed description of the Beachy Head underground complex go to: http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/b/beachy_head/
10 Photos
Village life in the 50's taken with my first camera, a twin lens Halina, between the ages of 13 -15
13 Photos
East & West Berlin, 1963 & 1979.
72 Photos
St Paul’s & Canterbury Cathedrals Interiors – Trafalgar Square from the top of Nelson’s Column, Images show St Paul’s Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral interiors. The picture of Trafalgar Square was taken in the late 1960’s when they had placed ladders up the 185 ft (56m) high column, which I climbed to get a Nelson’s eye view of the surrounding area. The worst part was when the ladders went from the vertical to the horizontal to surmount the plinth on which the Admiral stands. A further ladder took me the last 17 feet so that I could balance on his great cocked hat to take a series of images of the Square. This one, the only negative to survive, shows the National Gallery. Notable is the absence of traffic in those days. The street shown is now pedestrianised.
7 Photos
Cricket Bat Factory in UK, Photographed in 1964
14 Photos
German Market
3 Photos
Les Halles, Paris. Last Week of Existence.
29 Photos
Demolishing London Bridge In 1967, the Common Council of the City of London decide to sell off London Bridge, constructed in 1831. On 18 April 1968, it was sold to the American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch of McCulloch Oil for US $2,460,000. The claim that he mistakenly believed he was buying Tower Bridge (see this archive) was denied by in a newspaper interview. As the bridge was taken apart, each piece was numbered to aid re-assembly. The bridge was reconstructed at Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and re-dedicated on 10 October 1971. The bridge spans the Bridgewater Channel canal that leads from Lake Havasu to Thomson Bay, and forms the centrepiece of a theme park in English style, complete with a Tudor period shopping mall. The Bridge has become Arizona's second-biggest tourist attraction, after the Grand Canyon. Despite the fact that it comprises a concrete frame on which stones from the Old London Bridge are merely cladding.
12 Photos
Malta Firework Factory
15 Photos
Skopje after the 1963 Earthquake.
36 Photos
Tower Bridge 1967 Comprising 1,000 tons of granite and Portland stone, Tower Bridge is one of London’s most famous landmarks. In 1967 when I took these photographs it was still operated by steam power and manually controlled. Pictures show: 1] Cyril Twynham (in cap) Head Watchman who is responsible for warning the control cabin of approaching ships. 2] Stoker Fred Woodward in the boiler room. Two main engines in the south abutment tower raise hydraulic power in six 100-ton storage accumulators, providing immediate power to operate the bridge. 3] Captain Charles Gosling, ex-Royal Navy, on the ‘bridge’ of his command. 4] In the control room, Tom Mascall operates the levers of machinery which although built in 1894 was still functioning faultlessly. 5] The view from one of the two 140 foot high towers. 6] Tiger, the engine room cat was an official member of the ‘crew.’
27 Photos
War Rooms Beneath Whitehall when Winston Churchill worked in WWII
7 Photos
