Showing posts with label British Empire Exhibition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label British Empire Exhibition. Show all posts

Monday 1 January 2024

Guest post: Why we should commemorate the British Empire Exhibition in 2024

New Year Greetings to Wembley Matters readers with hopes for peace in the year ahead. 

We start the year with a guest post by local historian Philip Grant. I remember celebrating Empire Day as a pupil at Kingsbury Green Primary School in the 1950s. It became Commonwealth Day on May 24th 1958. The British Empire is now part of contested history so please note Philip's invitation at the end of his article to comment or submit a blog post. Many people in Brent, or their parents' generation will have had direct personal experience of the Empire in one way or another. 

Let the debate begin...

This article as with all guest posts and letters represents the writer's own views.

 

 

Happy New Year! It’s 2024, one hundred years on from 1924. This year will be the centenary of the British Empire Exhibition (“BEE”) at Wembley Park. I’m aware there are some who don’t want the word “Empire” to be mentioned in today’s diverse multicultural Brent, but I believe we should commemorate one of the most important events in Wembley’s history. It was a spectacle that brought people from around the world, to show-off their countries and cultures to around 17 million visitors. We can learn from it what the world was like then, and use it as a starting point for discussion of what the past of “Empire” has meant from different perspectives.

 

Postcard showing an aerial view of the Exhibition site, from the west.
(Brent Archives – Wembley History Society Collection)

 

The 216-acre Exhibition site at Wembley Park was chosen in 1921, because it was close to London, with good railway access. A number of local roads had to be improved and widened to make it more accessible for lorries, cars and buses. Construction began on the “Empire Stadium” in January 1922, and although that was completed in time for the F.A. Cup Final in 1923, the rest of the BEE buildings were only just finished in time for the Exhibition’s opening ceremony on 23 April 1924. In his opening address, King George V described it as: ‘… a graphic illustration of that spirit of free and tolerant co-operation which has inspired peoples of different races, creeds and ways of thought to unite in a single commonwealth and to contribute their varying national gifts to one great end.’  (You may think otherwise!)

 

A plan of the Exhibition site in 1924. (Brent Archives – WHS Collection)

 

I hope to write more about the Exhibition itself, and share many more illustrations from it, later in the year. As well as the individual “pavilions” showcasing the 56 nations taking part, there were large “palaces” promoting the arts, industry and engineering achievements of Britain itself. Improving trade throughout the Empire was an important aim of the BEE. Another was: ‘to enable all who owe allegiance to the British flag to meet on common ground and learn to know each other.’ (I think that was a step forward.)

 

A newspaper cutting from late March 1924. (Brent Archives – WHS Collection)

 

King George V had visited much of the British Empire, first as a young prince serving in the Royal Navy, then on a tour as Prince of Wales, as well as a long visit to India during his first year as King. Imperialism was ingrained among in British society by then, with the ruling classes seeing this country as superior in civilisation and culture, and entitled to exploit the resources of its colonies. King George, however, did view the Empire as a family of nations, with Britain as the parent, the four large Dominions (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) as daughters, and the other nations as cousins.

 

Gramophone record label for messages from the King and Queen, played to children on Empire Day.
(Photographed from the collection of the late Alan Sabey in 2014)

 

“Empires” have existed for thousands of years, as has slavery. Nearly 2,000 years ago, the southern part of the British Isles was added to the Roman Empire by conquest, and those tribal kingdoms, which made up what is now this country, that did not submit to Roman rule were overcome by force, and many of their people enslaved.

 

Britain did not set out to establish an empire, but it was one of several European nations which gradually built one. From the late 16th century onwards, overseas colonies were established by British traders, or companies issued with a Royal Charter. By the 17th century, colonies in the West Indies and the Americas were importing slaves from Africa to work on agricultural plantations, with Britain at the forefront of this Atlantic “trade”. 

 

I studied history at school up to “A” level, but in the 1960s we were not taught much detail about how these European empires were built up through a succession of wars, against each other and the native people of the lands they stole. I’m still learning now, most recently through the BBC series “The Australian Wars”. By the mid-19th century, the British Government had taken control over what was now regarded as the British Empire, with the different countries administered by appointed Governors. It was an Act of Parliament in 1876, not any rulers of its many states, which awarded an additional title to Queen Victoria: Empress of India!

 

A Queen Victoria penny coin from 1897. (Penny image from the internet)

 

I will use what appears to be a rather bland photograph, taken inside the British Guiana Pavilion at the BEE in 1924, as an example of how the Exhibition can help to illustrate a more realistic, and uncomfortable, history of the British Empire. It shows a display of sugar crystals, one of the nation’s main exports at the time, but it is the name “Demerara” which triggers memories of British Guiana’s past.

 

A BEE photograph by Harlesden photographer, Fred L. Wilson. (Brent Archives – WHS Collection)

 

Las Guayanas was an area on the north coast of South America, “discovered” and named by the Spanish, and first settled on a small scale by them and the Portuguese. Demerara was colonised by the Dutch West Indies Company in the 17th century, and by the mid-18th century there were also English settlers there, moving in from Barbados to develop larger sugar cane plantations, using African slave labour. A treaty signed during the Napoleonic Wars transferred “ownership” of part of the Guianas, including Demerara, to Britain, alongside the Dutch and French Guianas.

 

In 1812, businessman John Gladstone bought several plantations in the new British Guiana. Although Britain had abolished the slave trade in 1807, ownership of existing slaves continued, and those in Demerara were worked hard to produce sugar, and profit, for the plantation owners. Abolitionists in Britain continued to argue for better working conditions (a 12-hour working day, Sunday as a day of rest, no flogging of women slaves), and although these were approved in Westminster, plantation owners in British Guiana refused to implement them.

 

1823 saw a slave “rebellion” in Demerara, led by Jack Gladstone (the same surname as his “owner”), seeking the improvements they had heard about from British missionaries. It was a largely peaceful protest by the slaves, but it was violently put down by British forces and the colony’s white militia. Emancipation of the slaves finally came in 1834, with their owners receiving substantial compensation from the British Government for the loss of their “property”.

 

How did the plantation owners keep their sugar cane fields profitable without slave labour? I didn’t know the answer until the 1990s, when I was working in an office in Wembley. One of my colleagues, Rafique, was born in British Guiana (called Guyana, since its independence in 1966). In researching his family history, he found the names of his grandparents as passengers on a ship from Calcutta (Kolkata) in the 1890s. They were Bengali Muslims, being transported to British Guiana as “indentured labour”.

 

Within weeks of emancipation, a British firm in Calcutta was recruiting local unemployed Indian men to work on plantations in Mauritius. They put their mark on a contract (that most of them couldn’t read), which bound them to work overseas for five years for a few rupees a day. John Gladstone heard of this, and in 1838 he asked the firm to recruit ‘young, active, able-bodied labourers’ to work on his estates. 

 

Indentured workers from India in the West Indies, 1880. (The National Archives)

 

Between then and 1917, when the practice was ended, nearly 240,000 indentured workers from India were shipped to British Guiana. Less than a third of them were repatriated. Even though their contracts promised free passage home, the plantation owners often found ways to deny this to them. They were given new contracts, and when re-indenture was prohibited in the 1870s, they were encouraged to settle in Demerara, and offered work for low wages.

 

How Britain got its Demerara sugar is history. We can’t change the terrible injustices which took place for centuries across the British Empire, but nor should we try to hide them. Brent, and Britain, will be a better place if we all understand, and acknowledge, the wrongs (and a few slightly more positive aspects) of the British Empire. 

 

The centenary of the BEE provides a great opportunity for learning what people with their roots from across the former Empire feel about its history, especially if they can share more widely the views of earlier generations, passed down by word of mouth or in writing. Brent Archives contains a lot of information on the BEE, from a British perspective, and that can be used as a starting point for discussion.

 

Some of the residents of the BEE’s Nigerian village in 1924. (Brent Archives – WHS Collection)

 

The photo above, from an album donated to Wembley History Society in 1964, shows some of Nigerians who lived and worked at the BEE for seven months. I used illustrations from the album in an online article and a talk during the 90th anniversary year. The “village” they lived in was recreated in the BEE’s West African Walled City, where they displayed their crafts, and sold the goods they had made, to visitors. They were silversmiths, leather workers, weavers, potters, wood carvers and a bead polisher, from across Nigeria.

 

Bala and his brother Mamman, from Kano, featured in a postcard on sale at the BEE.
(Brent Archives – Wembley History Society Collection)

 

When I gave a talk on “Wembley’s Nigerian Village, 1924” to the Society in 2014, a Nigerian man came. He had seen it advertised, and could hardly believe that there had been people from his home country in Wembley ninety years earlier. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to ask him for his views on what he had seen and heard.

 

I’ve set out my thoughts on why we should be commemorating the British Empire Exhibition’s centenary, and using it as a chance to share different views. One writer has already done that with a letter about the “Decolonising Wembley” project, and Wembley History Society will be welcoming him as a speaker at its meeting on 16 February.

 

Now it is over to you! With Martin’s permission, I’m issuing an invitation to anyone reading this, with their roots in countries from the former British (or other) Empire(s), to contribute comments below, or guest posts for publication on “Wembley Matters”. Please share your perspective on Empire, and particularly any stories you know from relatives about what it was like living in one of the 56 nations represented at the BEE.


Philip Grant.

Thursday 22 June 2023

LETTER: Announcing the 'Decolonising Wembley' project

 Dear Editor,

 

I hope you're doing well - I thought I would reach out to you, hoping that you might be able to support our campaign. I am looking to spread the word about ‘Decolonising Wembley.’

 

This project aims to address the imperial nostalgia among urban professionals involved in the construction of Wembley. Specifically, it involves retroactively renaming the streets and buildings that commemorate the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. We're approaching the 100-year anniversary of the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley where the famous Kings Speech took place - by addressing modern commemorations at Wembley, we hope to raise awareness about the legacy of British imperialism and encourage people to reconsider their relationship with it.

 

There will be a few high-profile public talks that we'll be delivering on this.

 

The figure below highlights the 22 known commemorations of the British Empire Exhibition.

 


 

‘Decolonising Wembley’ is a project aimed at challenging the celebration of British imperialism and the legacy of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. The project aims to investigate the realities of British imperialism, the raison d’etre of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition, and the nomenclature of assets such as roads, buildings, open spaces, etc. at Wembley, London that commemorate and celebrate this contested event in history.

The project dissects the act of naming a street or building after an event, person, or building as an act of celebration that honours and memorializes the Exhibition’s legacy. Thereby preserving and romanticizing a contested narrative in Wembley’s history for generations to come.

Decolonising Wembley is a collaborative project that brings together academics, historians, activists, and community members – that seek to challenge the imperial nostalgia among urban professionals involved in the construction of Wembley and to promote a more critical understanding of the past. One of the key aspects of the project is the retroactive renaming of streets, open spaces and buildings that commemorate the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. This renaming process is an important step towards acknowledging the complexities of history and the impact of colonialism on the world.

The project also investigates the raison d’etre of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition and its role in promoting British imperialism. This research aims to deepen our understanding of the event and its impact, and to provide a more nuanced perspective on the legacy of British imperialism.

The launch of the Decolonising Wembley project is an important initiative that seeks to challenge the celebration of empire and to promote a more critical understanding of the past.

This is a serious cause of concern, especially as Brent is one of Britain’s most diverse boroughs – British imperialism has caused much strife and pain for our communities, Lord Woolley CBE said it best:


For many, including me, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, to revere about the empire. It means slavery, murder, theft, barbaric cruelty and colonialism. We cannot and must not attempt to erase our history, but we can choose which parts we put on a pedestal.”

 

For more information about the Decolonising Wembley project, please visit our website at www.decolonisingwembley.com and visit the socials @decolonising.wembley

Kind Regards,

 

Nabil Al-Kinani

 

Urbanist // Cultural Producer // Creative Practitioner

 

 

Saturday 19 February 2022

Can you help solve the Wembley Girl mystery?

 Guest post, by local historian Philip Grant:-


Wembley History Society receives email enquiries from around the country, and the world, about a wide variety of aspects of our area’s past. Some we can answer easily, from information we already hold. Others take research, which can uncover some fascinating stories, like that of a 1960s music shop, or a remarkable Indian lawyer who lived here. Occasionally, we receive a query that we can’t answer. The origin of a “Wembley Girl” figure is one of those, which is why I am writing this, to ask if you can help, please!

 

Wembley Girl’s face.

 

Our enquirer and her late husband bought the Wembley Girl figure ‘many moons ago’ from an antique dealer who claimed, ‘she is rather rare’. The painted figure is around 15 inches (38cm) tall, and the email sending its photograph said the owner would love to know more about the story behind this model, where and when (and by whom) she was made, and what her connection with Wembley is.

 

The Wembley Girl figure.

 

There is no doubt that the figure is a “Wembley Girl”, because that name is clearly shown on the base of the model:-

 


There is no makers name or mark on the base, and no stamp to show where the figure was made (if it was made outside this country, it might have had “Made in ….” stamped underneath). The only other clue is the number “24”. This could be a number referring to the mould it was cast from, or if it was a limited-edition model, the number of that particular piece. Or it could represent the year 1924.

 


Wembley would certainly have been widely known in 1924, because that was the year the British Empire Exhibition (“BEE”) was staged here. 17 million people came to Wembley Park for the BEE in 1924, and most of them went away with a souvenir of some sort. Hundreds of different picture postcards and a wide variety of small china ornaments were available from stalls around the exhibition grounds.

 

 

Empire Stadium souvenir cup. (From Alan Sabey’s collection)

 

 

A BEE souvenir ornament, made by Cauldon Potteries Ltd. (From Alan Sabey’s collection)

 

But what connection could the Wembley Girl figure, which would have been a more expensive item than these mass-produced souvenirs, have had with the BEE? She certainly appears to be making an exhibition of herself, although that would go against the generally wholesome theme of the BEE! This is just speculation, but my guess would be that, if the figure did come from the BEE in 1924, it was connected in some way with the Pears’ Palace of Beauty.

 


An advertisement for the Pears’ Palace of Beauty. (Source: Brent Archives)

 

This ornate building, in the BEE’s Amusement Park, was created by the House of Pears to promote their soap, which they said had been ‘for 130 years the servant of beautiful women.’ Inside the building were 10 tableau rooms from different ages, and inside each (behind a glass screen, to protect them from admiring visitors) was an actress, styled and dressed as one of the most beautiful women in history.

 

The actresses, playing characters from Helen of Troy and Cleopatra, to Nell Gwynne, Sarah Siddons and Miss 1924, worked in pairs, sharing the 13-hour days that the Palace was open in shifts. They worked 10am to 1pm and 7pm to 11pm one week, and 1pm to 7pm the next, for £5 a week. They were one of the biggest attractions in the 40-acre Amusement Park, with 750,000 visitors paying one shilling and threepence each to see them in the 1924 season.

 


Postcard showing the entrance to the BEE Amusement Park. (Source: Brent Archives)

 

The Wembley Girl figure may have been inspired by the women in the Palace of Beauty (perhaps Miss 1924?), but she was not an official souvenir. Pears’ only offered souvenir bars of their soap, and a set of postcard pictures of the beautiful women (in their costumes), in their gift shop. If Wembley Girl was made for the BEE, it is more likely that she was sold in a kiosk close to the Palace of Beauty, for men who had been to the Pears’ exhibit, but wanted a souvenir which was a bit more “racy”.

 

Pears’ Palace of Beauty at the BEE Amusement Park in 1924. (Image from the internet)

 

If you know anything about the origin of the Wembley Girl figure, or even recognise its style and who might have made it, please provide the information in the comments below. If you are tempted to make any rude comments, about what her owner describes as her ‘rather deshabille’ appearance, please don’t! 

 

Thank you.


Philip Grant.

Wednesday 9 December 2020

UPDATE: Wembley coal mine shaft and tunnels to be investigated before Euro House redevelopment goes ahead

Euro House, Fulton Road




Ok, that's a bit if a tease but the Planning Officers' report for the redevelopment of Euro-Parts', Euro House, Fulton Road site includes the following comment:

The history of the site has largely been as agricultural land until the area became managed parkland forming part of the wider Wembley Park during the late 19th/early 20th Century. In the 1920s, the site formed part of the area for the British Empire Exhibition, and this section of the site was occupied by a life size construction of a coal mine, including a stretch of below ground tunnels, a brick lined access shaft and an air shaft, as well as above ground structures. Although the above ground and immediate sub-surface structures were removed when the site was re-developed for the current industrial use, the report concludes that there is evidence some of the shafts and tunnel structures could still exist. For this reason, the report concludes that further work to identify and record these elements should be undertaken and need GLAAS input if required.

 


 

Images courtesy of Philip Grant/Wembley History Society

The rest of the report is rather more mundane in comparison as approval is suggested for a scheme of one 21 storey block of flats, surrounded by 12 storey 'mansion' blocks and incorporating some light industry space to provide employment - a rather late recognition of the impact of the many sites that are being sold for housing.

 

The illustrations of the scheme are rather sparse but are very much along the lines of the existing developments. One novel aspect is an objection from Quintain to the proposal on the grounds that it will deprive residents in its NE4 neighbouring site of light and they request a reduction in height. Officers basically tell them that the nature of the redevelopment of the area means they have to put up with it.

It is hard to reconcile the above image with the plans for the area around the buildings that are claimed to include some allotment plots for residents and a walkway alongside the Wealdstone Brook:

On housing the devil is in the detail. There are 493 units of which only 98 are affordable.  Of these 80 are at London Affordable Rent and 18 shared ownership.


The application will be decided at Planning Committeee tonight at 6pm. Officers' Report HERE

 

Watch Webcast here:    https://brent.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/531655

 

 

 


Saturday 6 June 2020

The Wembley Park Story - Part 4

The fourth part of Philip Grant's series on the history of Wembley Park



We left Part 3 (“click” if you missed it) just after the British Empire Exhibition had closed in 1925. Its site and the buildings on it had cost around £12m (equivalent to over £700m now), but the Liquidator’s attempt to sell them at auction as a single lot was withdrawn, with the highest offer at £350k. It was later bought for just £300k by Jimmy White, a speculator who paid 10% of this “up front”, with the balance payable as the buildings were sold off.


Many of the people who worked at the exhibition had been unemployed ex-servicemen. Arthur Elvin was one of these, working in a cigarette kiosk in 1924. He saved as much of his £4 10s wages as he could, and leased eight kiosks himself when the exhibition reopened in 1925, selling sweets and souvenirs as well. He bought and demolished his first small building on the site in 1926, selling the metal for scrap and rubble as hardcore for road construction. After reinvesting the profits several times, within a year he offered £122,500 for the stadium.

1. Wembley Stadium, after demolition of the BEE pavilions, c.1927. (Image from the internet)

Elvin had paid £12,500 deposit to White, with the balance payable over ten years, when in August 1927 the Official Receiver demanded it all within a fortnight! Jimmy White had only ever paid the initial £30k for the buildings, gambled away the rest, and then shot himself. By working together with friends and banks, Elvin managed to complete the purchase. Aged 28, he was the managing director of the Wembley Stadium and Greyhound Racecourse Company Ltd.

2. Greyhound and speedway racing events at Wembley Stadium. (Images from old books on the stadium)

Few had thought the stadium could be saved from demolition, with the Cup Final as its only annual booking. The company name is a clue to how Elvin believed it could be made profitable. He introduced greyhound racing, three times a week, from 1928, and motorcycle speedway, with his Wembley Lions team, from 1929, both with regular crowds in excess of 60,000. The pre-match entertainment he put on for the football final, including community singing (“Abide with me”), attracted the Rugby League cup final in 1929, with Wembley as its home ever since.


With greyhounds the only winter attraction, Elvin saw another possibility to keep Wembley’s 400 employees in full-time work during the early 1930s depression, after watching an ice hockey game at Earls Court in 1932. His plans crystalized when the second British Empire Games were planned for London in 1934. Working with Sir Owen Williams, who had designed the stadium, the Empire Pool was constructed of reinforced concrete in just nine months.

3. L-R, Duke of Gloucester, Sir Owen Williams and Arthur Elvin at the Pool opening. (From an old book)


The Pool was opened on 25 July 1934, just in time for the swimming and diving events of the Games. The boxing and wrestling competitions followed, in a ring on a bridge across the pool. Then the public could enjoy the pool for swimming throughout the summer. As soon as the speedway season finished in October, its fans could support a new Wembley Lions ice hockey team. The pool was drained for the winter, and the rink on a floor above it could be used for public skating, when the Lions or a second team, the Wembley Monarchs, were not playing.

4. A 1934 Empire Pool advert, and swimmers enjoying it. (From a Pool programme, and an old book) 

5. Ice hockey programme, and a match at the Empire Pool, both late 1930s. (From old programme and book)

While Arthur Elvin was making Wembley Park a major sporting venue, the exhibition buildings that had not been demolished were put to new uses. The former Lucullus Restaurant, alongside Wembley Park Drive, became a film studio. The huge Palaces of Industry and Engineering were split up into units for manufacturing or warehouses. Elvin used the Palace of Arts as storage space, for the platform which supported the ice rink, and the banked timber track used for cycling races inside the Empire Pool, but it was soon to be required for another purpose.


In the late 1930s, Germany under Adolf Hitler aimed to become a dominant force. The Empire Pool hosted the European Swimming Championships in 1938, and Germany easily topped the medal table. After war broke out the following year, Wembley Council took over the Palace of Arts as the centre for its A.R.P. organisation. When thousands of British troops were evacuated from Dunkirk in May 1940, many were brought to the stadium, which was used as an emergency dispersal centre. Refugees from France, Belgium and Holland followed, and were given temporary accommodation in the Empire Pool, before being rehomed across the country. 

6. A Civil Defence review at Wembley Stadium, October 1942. (Image from Brent Archives)

Wartime parades and reviews made use of the stadium, and other events, including greyhound racing, continued throughout the war. Service men and women could attend free. There were many charity matches, like an England v. Scotland football international in February 1944, with King George VI, Princess Elizabeth and Field Marshall Montgomery in the Royal Box, which raised a record £18,000. Others were inter-service games, including baseball and American Football between teams from the U.S. ground and air forces in 1943/44, ahead of D-Day. 

7. A U.S. Services baseball game at Wembley Stadium in 1943. (Still image from a newsreel film)

The stadium was used as a landmark by the Luftwaffe, on their way to raids north of London, but Wembley Park was also a target. A German airman, whose bomber was shot down locally, had a map marking the location of an R.A.F. storage depot (the former Palace of Industry!). Bombs hit the stadium on three occasions, and a V1 “doodlebug” landed on the kennels, killing a number of greyhounds, in 1944. Each Christmas, during the war, Mr and Mrs Elvin and their stadium team provided a free Christmas dinner for hundreds of local service personnel who could not get home. In 1945, Elvin was awarded the M.B.E. for his wartime efforts.


There had been no Olympic Games in 1940 or 1944, and when London was invited to stage the 1948 Olympiad, the Government almost declined the offer because of post-war austerity. Then, at the start of 1947, Elvin offered his facilities at Wembley Park, free of charge, so the Games could go ahead. The Stadium company also agreed to build a new access road from the station. Until early 1948, about one third of the labour on this project was provided by German prisoners of war. The new road, named Olympic Way, cost £120k and opened in July.

8. German P-o-W’s at work on Olympic Way in 1947. (Still image from a film made at the time)
9. Wembley Town Hall, in Forty Lane, decorated for the Olympics in July 1948. (Brent Archives image 3829)

The Borough of Wembley really got behind the Games. Many residents took paying guests into their homes, as there were few hotels for spectators to stay at. Entertainments for visitors were arranged by the Council. A school in Alperton was one of those used to house male competitors, and the families of several pupils played host to some of their female team mates.

10. The Olympic Games opening ceremony at Wembley Stadium. (Brent Archives, 1948 Olympics Report)

On 29 July 1948, packed crowds watched the opening ceremony. Boy Scouts from Wembley carried the names of the 59 countries taking part, in front of their teams in the parade. Thousands of residents lined the streets, as a relay of local runners carried the Olympic torch on its way to the stadium, ready to light the flame that marked the start of the Games.

11. Olympic Way, with crowds going to the stadium for the Games, July 1948. (Image from the internet)

For over two weeks, Wembley Park and its new Olympic Way were full of visitors to this great sporting occasion, and they were not disappointed. New heroes emerged, like Emil Zatopek of Czechoslovakia, who won gold in the 10,000 metres and finished second in the 5,000m by just 0.4 of a second, and Arthur Wint, winning Jamaica’s first ever Olympic gold medal in the 400m, after silver in the 800m. Housewife and mother, Fanny Blankers-Koen of The Netherlands was the heroine of the Games, winning four athletics golds.


 
The Olympic Games (1948) – BFI / National Archives


Elvin, now Sir Arthur, must have enjoyed the event that made “his” venue the centre of the sporting world. As well as the opening and closing ceremonies, the stadium hosted the athletics events, football and hockey finals and the show jumping competition. The Empire Pool staged the swimming and diving, the water polo final, and then, after bridging the pool again, the boxing bouts. Part of the Palace of Engineering was used for the fencing competitions, and the Palace of Arts was taken over by the BBC, to become the Broadcasting Centre for the Games.


Could Wembley Park ever match the “high” of the 1948 Olympic Games again, or would it simply be forgotten as the years moved on? There will be more of its story to discover next weekend, and I look forward to sharing it with you.

Please use the comments section below if you have any questions from the series so far, or if you have information on Wembley Park that you would like to share, with me and others.

Philip Grant.