Wembley 'Snippets'

The new advertising leaflet for the Museum of London shows a 1925 Wembley Exhibition poster on the page with the information in Japanese. The Museum has a section about the Exhibition and I shall endeavour to find out whether this item is one of their possessions and whether it is on display. Watch this space!
A friend visited the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the weekend of September 19th & 20th 1998 when public buildings such as Government offices were open to the public for the first time. On the first floor corridor to the Ghurka Stairs, there is a large painting on the corridor wall entitled 'India's Homage to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey' (Frank O Salisbury, 1924). It was presented by the artist at the conclusion of the British Empire Exhibition, Wembley, where it had hung in the Bengal Court. The Earl of Birkenhead, Secretary of State for India, unveiled the painting at the India Office on 11th December 1924.
The Group is registered with the London Borough of Brent as an interested party in any alterations at the Exhibition site including the Stadium and original Exhibition buildings. As a result, I have recently been sent several letters together with copies of the plans for alterations to the left-hand end of the Palace of Industry which is out of use at the moment.
The proposed alterations for which Planning permission was sought are as follows:- "Listed building consent for refurbishment of ground floor and first floor office, redecoration of the exterior, structural repairs to building and steel balustrade, removal of obscure glazing on ground floor, complete with security grilles, revamp of entrance with rendered section to complement general features, removal of signage, resurfacing of car-park and repairs to/replacement of front fence."
On behalf of the Group, I wrote in reply that the metal fence proposed was out of keeping with the main features of the building, particularly the balustrade on the first floor. "The metal fence to be erected across the frontage of the building should be in keeping with the style and detail of the first floor balustrading, although taller than this. This, along with the railings up the steps leading to the Terrace of the Stadium, and the remaining portion of railings on Empire Way outside the Arena towards York House is in the original style planned by the original architects of the Exhibition site."
On January 7th 1999, I was pleased to receive a letter from the Planning department informing me that at the meeting on December 29th 1998, Planning permission had been refused and the reason given was:- "The colour and two tone nature of the external painting and the design of the front boundary fence have a detrimental effect on the appearance and character of this Listed Building and would be contrary to policies E30 and E31 of the Adopted Unitary Development Plan. The remaining elements of the proposal are considered to be satisfactory.
This is certainly evidence that the London Borough of Brent's Planning department are taking notice of our remarks and observations!

Journal published by the Exhibition Study Group.
All original material is Copyright to the Group and can only be published with the permission of the Editor, and with acknowledgement of source.
Page design by Wayne Robbins.

EXHIBITION STUDY GROUP