Swallow Gardens

[sdreid]

Thanks Jake, that's what I thought might be the case.

[Jake L]

Whoa....indeed a nice set of illustrations posted by Stewart! A couple of excellent ones I hadn't seen!!!

Also, well chosen details by Stephen - thanks!

Stephen, Mr Goad tells me that Little Prescott St is the underpass adjacent to S. Gdns on the West side - in other words, the continuation of Mansell St (also known as "Mansell Passage" in some press reports").



In the pic (facing West), it would be roughly in line with the East wall of the GNR depot. Here we see the railway after widening. The school faced the entry into Swallow Gdns.

In some reports re the Coles case it is mentioned that there were the three N-S passages under the railway. Ergo, these were Abel's Bldngs, Swallow Gdns and the aforementioned Little Prescott St

Are there any London or railway historians out there who might know when this widening took place?
Bulldog

Not an anorak nor historian per se, but as a general nerd I might qualify to attempt an answer

Can't remember the exact year, but I seem to recall that it was in the late nineties. If you look at the 1894 OS, the widening of the tracks (to the North) has already been marked in. The accu tower on the South side next to the Minories underpass (still standing) was built around the same time.


Of course the whole area was being developed around the turn of the century (Mansell St extension, Tower Bridge access, etc. ) However, most of the North side of Royal Mint St had already gone by 1891 - this we know not only from Goads but also Charles Booth's '91 stroll journals.


Stan, the X would be off frame in Stephen's shots. What you see is the mouth of the arch.

/jake

[sdreid]

So, where would the "X" be placed on the photographs?

[Bulldog]

Widening of the roadbed

As Stephen Thomas's excellent picture clearly shows, the railway roadbed over Swallow Gardens was obviously widened considerably some time ago. It looks like it now extends out at least another 15 ft. beyond the original wall which still shows the outline of the original archway.

Are there any London or railway historians out there who might know when this widening took place?

Thanks for any help.

Bulldog

[Stephen Thomas]

In Guildford we have a small stepped alleyway called Rosemary Alley. It's original name was Pisspot Alley.

Yes, Philip, them Anglo Saxons woz the boys wot told it like it is, innit. They is not the men to be blamed for nothing. For a couple of hundred years there was a street in the City round Barbican way called Grope C*nt Alley. I wonder why?

Robert

e e cummings jokes on a Jack the Ripper site? Respect! Thanks for the picture. There's a bit of a mystery, to my mind, regarding the architecture of the arches on Chamber Street which I'd quite like to solve, and which is why I started this thread.

Philip and Bulldog

Thanks for your kind comments re my original posts.

[anna]

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply,and the explanation.

Kindest Regards,

ANNA.

[John Bennett]

Hi John,


sorry about that.....


Try harder next time.......I promise!!!


ANNA.

Hi Anna,

don't worry yerself! It wasn't a broadside. But a lot of old streets (certainly in London) are named after people. It's just that nowadays, the trend has reappeared, but we don't often know who these people are. Their history is yet to be exposed/ruminated upon.

For one, I've tried to find out who Durward Street was named after. Any takers?

All the best
John

[Robert]

I don't know if this Lloyd's sketch has been posted before.

Re street names of poets and writers, there should be a Bunyan Toepath, a Saint-Exupery Rise, a Milton Alley (so called because it's a blind alley) and of course an
e
crescent
cummings
e

[George Hutchinson]

It was an open running sewer down to the River Wey, Bulldog. The Victorians changed the name. You know what they were like.

Anna - I know.

PHILIP

[anna]

Thanks Philip.

Brilliant answer!

ANNA.x

[Bulldog]

Philip,

I bet that there's an interesting story about how it acquired that name.

Bulldog

[George Hutchinson]

Not totally true about nicer old names, Anna.

In Guildford we have a small stepped alleyway called Rosemary Alley. It's original name was Pisspot Alley. So there.

PHILIP

[anna]

Hi John,


sorry about that.....


Try harder next time.......I promise!!!


ANNA.

[John Bennett]

Hi all,

Has anyone else noticed how much nicer the names of street's and buildings were then.

Why is it nowadays,that everything seems to have been named after someone?

ANNA.

Having said that, many older streets in the area are named after people:

Heneage, Osborn, Thrawl, Flower and Dean, Adler, Fashion (it's a corruption of Fossan), Hanbury, Fournier, Buxton, Strype, Wilkes, Brushfield, Wheler, Old Montague, Toynbee, Brady, Fulbourne, Vallance, Alie (Ayliff), Peck's Yd

And pubs:

Black Lion Yd, Green Dragon Yd, Mitre Sq/St, Angel Alley, Bell Lane, Grey Eagle St, Kings Arms Court, Vine Court..

[anna]

Hi all,

Has anyone else noticed how much nicer the names of street's and buildings were then.

Why is it nowadays,that everything seems to have been named after someone?Are we so insecure,that we need to be constantly patting ourselves on the back?

The nicest names I have around me,are on an estate of private houses with the roads named after famous poets!

ANNA.