Alexandra Palace

 Alexandra Palace

The people's Palace

The Hill where Alexandra Palace now stands was originally part of Tottenham wood Farm. Has the surrounding acres where sold off to be filled up with housing it left the top of the hill free. It was thought that it was a good idea to move the existing Alexandra Palace from Kensington to its new home over looking North London. It was re-erected on the top of the hill and opened for business in 1873. Only sixteen days after it opened a fire broke out and the whole building was totally destroyed. During those sixteen days of its opening the palace had attracted over hundred thousand visitors which showed that Ally Pally had the potential to be a major attraction in London.

This helped the owners to decide to rebuild the palace. Ally Pally was redesigned and rebuilt. It opened for business in May 1875. The palace was so popular that it had its own railway station severing it. The railway was part of the Northern Railway Company,s line and had its platform at the north side of the palace which is still there today, but sadly it is not in use. Alexandra Palace covers seven acres of land that had ornamental lakes, funfair and sport facilities on it. The main building had room for large exhibitions it also had a theater, a library, a museum and a lecture hall and could stage concerts and banquets.

Alexandra Palace also has a big place in television history because of one very popular entertainment. That entertainment was the birth of television or at leased the first television broadcast that was transmitted from there on 2^nd November 1936. The BBC had leased the east wing of the building earlier that year. There were two television studios on the second floor and the transmitter was built on the top of the east wing tower. The early days provided two different types of formats the Baird 240-line optical system and the Marconi-EMI 405-line system after only a year the Baird system was phrased out has the other system was far better. In the early days the transmissions could only reach a distance of 25 miles but this distance increased over the years has new transmitters were add around London. The Ally Pally transmitter kept on transmitting until the early 1950's when the new Crystal Palace high powered transmitter took over. At the same time the studio's closed and moved to there new location in Lime Grove. In the early sixty's Television Centre opened in Wood Lane and most of the productions were moved there. The news went on producing its programs from Ally Pally until the early seventy's. It was then moved to Television Center with all the other programs. Alexandra Palace was then used has a production facility for the program Open university and did so until 1980 when the BBC's lease ended and the studio's finally closed.

Also in 1980 HaringeyCouncil took over the daily running of the palace and its grounds. Unfortunately in the same year a huge fire broke out in the great hall and totally gutted the central part of the palace. It took another eight years of restoration work before the Palace could open again which it did in 1988.

I have been visiting Ally Pally from when I was a kid and I find it a wonderful place to visit for the whole family. There is a boating lake and the view from the top of the hill is excellent on a clear day. They have a fun fair there two to three times a year. The great hall is still used today for concerts and exhibitions truly grand but not has grand has the original great hall that had a semi circle steel glass roof before the big fire in 1980. A great place to go.

London Victoria

Victoria National Rail Station

Victoria train station was built between 1860/1862 and was a joint venture between “The Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway Company”. This company was set up in 1858 to take trains over the river to meet up with the “Great Exhibition” that had recently moved to Sydenham from Hyde Park. The station was built in two parts and was used by four different railway companies “The Great Western (GWR), London & North Western (LNWR), The London, Brighton and South coast (LBSCR) and The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR)”.

The west side of the station opened first on 1^st October 1862 and was used by the Brighton and south coast lines. The station became very popular with the public and was a huge success. The western side of the station also had an hotel incorporated into it called “The Grosvenor” which had 300 rooms. The eastern side of the station opened shortly afterwards. The stations were designed by the then London, Brighton and South Coast Railway engineer Mr R Jacob Hood and was mostly constructed of wood. The eastern side of the station was much more shabby in appearance than the western side and was occupy by “The Chatham Company” and “GWR”. It had nine tracks leading into the station and some of the lines were built through what was once the basin of the Grosvenor Canal.

At the turn of the century which was around 40 years after the original station was built. The station had became very overcrowded and shabby. The railway management decided to build a new station on the western and eastern side. The new station was to be a much bigger station and a much more well planned one. The station was to be designed by Sir Charles Morgan. There was to be a new section along Buckingham Palace Road which was 9 storeys high and form the main bulk of the new Grosvenor hotel that was rebuilt as part of the development. The main feature of the station was its french style pavilion glass roofs. The new station was opened on 1^st July 1908. The eastern side of the station was designed in Edwardian style with baroque elements in white stone opened a year later in 1909. The eastern side was designed by Mr Alfred Bloomfield. The two buildings are very contrasting to each other in there appearance. The stations ended up being connected in 1924 when it was decided to taking down part of a screen wall that separated the two stations. The platforms were extended length ways in the same year. This was to accommodate the increase in passages and travellers. The platforms were done this way because there was little scope to develop the station in any other way due to the increase transport in the area. During the WW1 the eastern side of the station played an important role in ferrying the troops to seaside ports for transport to France and bring the wounded back again.

Over the years Victoria Station has become a very busy place for travellers from all other the world. To meet this demand the London tourist board have employed visitor information guides to help you if you are lost or just need to ask a question. These tour guides are situated in and around the station. You also have people travelling there from all over the country by coach to the Victoria coach station which is just around the corner from the main line rail station to catch a train to the coast to catch a ferry to France and other destinations and vice verse. What ever time you go to Victoria it is always a busy place with everyone going, coming or waiting for someone.