Leonard Bentley
The Mall
This is a found Kodachrome slide showing the view in The Mall with 61 traffic point in the foreground looking east towards Admiralty Arch. It is early May 1959 and the flags of the UK and Iran are flying from their flagpoles to celebrate the state visit of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran although newspapers were still describing him as the Shah of Persia. In 1935 the Iranian Government had requested that all countries with which it had diplomatic relations should from then on call the country Iran which is the name in Persian. The Shah flew into Gatwick on Tuesday 5th May in his private Vickers Viscount and travelled to Victoria Station where he was met by the Queen and then driven in state to Buckingham Palace via the Mall. The state visit ended on Friday 8th May, but he stayed on until 14th May for a private visit and talks with the British Government. It was the only state visit in 1959 and the seventh of the Queen’s reign, to date there have been 110 state visits. The junction of the Mall and Marlborough Road was known as 61 traffic point and it was very tricky, there is no police constable shown in the photograph but in my time was always manned as traffic lights were not allowed in the Royal Parks. The speed of the traffic was the main thing, a straight stretch of road in central London was a temptation many drivers could not resist. The dangers of the point were realized in the mid-1970s when Metropolitan Police traffic wardens were assigned the task and provided with a raised platform in the middle of the road, later traffic lights were installed.
The Mall
This is a found Kodachrome slide showing the view in The Mall with 61 traffic point in the foreground looking east towards Admiralty Arch. It is early May 1959 and the flags of the UK and Iran are flying from their flagpoles to celebrate the state visit of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran although newspapers were still describing him as the Shah of Persia. In 1935 the Iranian Government had requested that all countries with which it had diplomatic relations should from then on call the country Iran which is the name in Persian. The Shah flew into Gatwick on Tuesday 5th May in his private Vickers Viscount and travelled to Victoria Station where he was met by the Queen and then driven in state to Buckingham Palace via the Mall. The state visit ended on Friday 8th May, but he stayed on until 14th May for a private visit and talks with the British Government. It was the only state visit in 1959 and the seventh of the Queen’s reign, to date there have been 110 state visits. The junction of the Mall and Marlborough Road was known as 61 traffic point and it was very tricky, there is no police constable shown in the photograph but in my time was always manned as traffic lights were not allowed in the Royal Parks. The speed of the traffic was the main thing, a straight stretch of road in central London was a temptation many drivers could not resist. The dangers of the point were realized in the mid-1970s when Metropolitan Police traffic wardens were assigned the task and provided with a raised platform in the middle of the road, later traffic lights were installed.