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The first post-war edition of the City of Leeds Official Handbook, a marvellous compendium of the city's municipal endeavours, services and industries. The cover has this rather simple but effective use of the city coat of arms (heraldic achievement) and embossed lettering.
The c.1960 handbook issued by the Airport Committee of the Corporation of the City of Birmingham and likely published to mark the final return of Elmdon Airport to the Council's control on 1 April 1960 from the Ministry of Aviation; the airport had been requisitioned upon the outbreak of war in 1939 only a few months after the opening of the City's airport.
The City's Airport Committe had come into being in 1934 and developed a scheme for a civil airport on a site at Elmdon, on the eastern fringe of the city on the Coventry Road. On 1 May 1939 the terminal buildings and runways came into use and it was official opened on 8 July when the Duchess of Kent 'cut the ribbon'. The design and architecture of the terminal build was the work of Norman and Dawbarn.
By 16 September 1939 the airport came under the control of the Royal Air Force. After the cessation of hostilities the City Council lobbied for the return of the airport but it passed tot he direct control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and in 1947 it was included in a list of airfields that were to remain under state control; it had been opened to civil aviation again on 8 July 1946 but there were no scheduled flights. It was to be 1949 before the first scheduled services began, to Paris, followed by an Aer Lingus service to Dublin in 1949. The tempo picked up in 1950 (BEA to the Channel Islands and N. Ireland) and in 1951 the list had grown to include Dinard in France.
The book includes many adverts for travel and aviation related services as well as the City Council's aspirations for the future that included a new continental terminal and extensions to the existing domestic terminal. In 1974 control passed, unusually, to the new Metropolitan County Council of the West Midlands and was later part privatised - the various local Metropoliatn Borough Councils still being minority shareholders.
From the 1965 edition of the City's official handbook, the first since the 1958 issue, and editied by F W Bradnock, the city's Public Relations Officer. The handbook was a regular publication and it describes the work of the City Council, in terms of administration, public works and buildings, education, social services, protective services, amenities and civic trading undertakings.
Birmingham City Transport was one of the UK's largest bus fleets and was certainly amongst the very biggest municipal fleets if not the biggest. The Transport Department ran 16 garages, a fleet of over 1,500 vehicles and employed over 6,500. There was a vast central Repair Works at Tyburn Road and this is pictured in the second illustration. A variety of vehicles are seen here including several stalwarts from the 1950s renewal of the bus fleet (modernising the pre-WW2 fleet as well as replacing tram and trolleybuses) as well as one of the new style 'interlopers' as pictured on the first page. By 1963 Birmingham had opted for newer style rear engined vehicles and these, in time, would allow for one-person operation, doing away with the need for the 2,000 bus conductors employed.
The 'new' bus, of the 'Standard type' is one of the 1963 batch of Daimler Fleetlines 3295, 295 GON, that was fitted with a Park Royal body. In later batches, from both Park Royal and local builders Metro-Cammell, the severe flat front seen here would be more styled in design. It carries the traditional livery of Monastral blue and cream, with a deep kharki roof - a hangover from WW2 liveries. It is pictured here not in Birmingham I suspect as the street lamps are not 'local'.
At Tyburn Road two double deckers can be seen up front - one, a Guy Arab of the large batch of 'Standards' or 'New Look' buses fitted with concealed radiators and that served the city so well for so many years. Next to it is one of the later exposed radiator buses, a Leyland Titan PD2/1 of 1948, 1712, HOV 712, with Brush bodywork. You tend to forget amongst the masses of Daimler and Guy chassis that Birmingham did have substantial numbers of Leyland and Crossley vehicles in the post-war fleet and even a few of the pre-War favourites from AEC.
In the background as well as a rear engined vehicle you can see one of the small batch of single deck vehicles the Department had. this being one of the 1950 Leyland PS2/1's fitted witha Weymann body.
A fine example of an official handbook issued by a municipal authority as was 'de rigeour' in the mid-twentieth century. This little publication lauds the benefits of Rawtenstall and its council and loving describes the plethora of municipal activities - even down to the works of the Haslingden, Rawtenstall and Bacup Outfall Sewage Board. Rawtenstall was the centre of the felt and slipper industry, an excellent example of the highly concentrated, local specialisation of many northern textile towns.
The cover shows the view of the town's War Memorial with the Parish Church of St Mary in the town centre.
Hello everyone,
These drawings is actually the cover of a scientific handbook released a few months ago (09/2015) and called "Biodiversity and evolution of the fungal world. This the third of a series of five handbooks, for, students in the first year of Pharmacy or of Medecine, but also for all those interested in the evolution and the living world. You will also find in my various illustration.
* But also (Cover Book) : Boletus Satanas (Watercolor)
* And (Back Cover) : Common Frog & Fungi (Watercolor)
Difficult to imagine a world without mushroom, they are everywhere and nevertheless … What do we know about them, when did they appear, which are their lifestyles ? What we begin to perceive of the fungal world is fascinating. Mushrooms do not limit themselves to these colored hats which we pick in wood as the seasons go by. These alive bodies, so discreet as resistant, managed of the challenge to colonize all the circles of the planet until the deepest of the oceans.
We exploited since millenniums the capacities of these tireless workers to produce food as the bread, the beer, the wine or the cheese. That let us would be made without these mushrooms which supply invaluable antibiotics to handle the infections, or with immunosuppresseurs for them for organ transplants ?
They entered into intimate relationships with the vegetable world and without them our harvests would be catastrophic. We begin only to understand how much their role is crucial in the biodiversity conservation.
But mushrooms also have their dark side and can cause as well damage in the cultures as attack animals and our own species. Some even go as far as attacking our houses or our books.
To answer all these questioning and try to reveal better this " fungal paradox ", we invite you to dive into this still underestimated universe, rich in beauty, and which we fascinates us since the childhood through books, the tales, just like it enchants our walks in forest. Only a perfect knowledge of their biology can assure the future of the humanity.
Foreword by Jean-Philippe Rioult
David Garon is doctor in pharmacy and lecturer in botany, mycology and biotechnology at the University of Caen.
Jean-Christophe Gueguen (Myself) is a doctor of pharmacy, pharmacist and consultant in industrial plant resources.
You can now purchase this handbook on various online sites !
* First handbook : Biodiversity & Evolution Of The Living World
* Second handbook : Biodiversity & Evolution Of The Plant World
The lavish handbook issued in 1932 by Saorstát Éireann (the Irish Free State) seems to have been a real publicity statement for the relatively new (founded 1922 after the war of Independance) and often struggling state. The 1920s and early '30s were hard years for many countries and for the IFS, after a civil war, and with little industrial base whilst at the same time developing systems of governance alongside a sense of independence arguably this was doubly so.
In 1937 the Government introduced constitutional changes that abolished the IFS replacing it with the fully sovereign state of Éire.
The very lavishly illustrated book has this very colourful cover - drawing, as was the fashion of the time, very heavily on the Celtic and Medieval tradition of irish art - partailly to bolster the sense of a 'native' vernacular. The artwork introduces many elements and themes of the great medieval manuscripts, many of which are in the Library of Trintiy College, Dublin, and where as a student I was priviledged enough to both see and handle some of the originals. The artist is Art O'Murnaghan - that wonderful Dublin character, born in England in 1875, who died in 1953 and who was at times a playright, librarian, chemist, artist and illuminator. His great work was the Leabhar na hAiseirghe (Book of Resurrection) - now, finally, after years of obscurity on display in Dublin.
Almost without exception, the UK's local authorities issued such 'official handbooks' during the mid-20th Century and, often running to several editions, they are a rich seam for looking at local history as they cover civic and municipal services along with various commercial and industrial concerns based there. The City of Birmingham, as befitted one of the UK's largest city authorities, produced in the 1920s and '30s, annual editions that vied with the City of Manchester's similar productions. The editions contain a series of sections dealing with the city's governance, the services provided - that at the time included the council's many trading undertakings such as gas, electricity, water and transport, along with social services such as hospitals that were then mostly run by the city council.
One of the largest trading undertakings was that of the city's Electric Supply Department that was most likley the largest such municipal supply undertaking in the UK. The Council had acquired the private generating company in 1900 along with those in Aston and Handsworth when both areas were annexed by the city in 1911. Work had started on a new generating station on a site in Nechells in 1914 but this was paused due to the outbreak of war and work only recommenced in 1918. The station was opened in 1923 by the Prince of Wales and became known as the Prince's Station. In post-WW2 years, and under nationalisation, a second station, Nechells B, was opened in 1954 but generation ceased on the site in 1982.
During the 1920s requirement for power grew dramatically and with growing Governmental control of the industry larger, more efficient generating stations were favoured and Birmingham began to construct a new power station on a greenfield site to the east of the city at Hams Hall. Constructed in 1928 the first phase of the station was opened, by the Duke of York, on 6 Novemebr 1929. The station was considered to be one of the largest and most efficient in Europe at the time and was an earlier user of pulverised coal as fuel. In time the City would open the second phase, as B station in 1942, and a third and final phase (four units were originally planned for) opened in 1956/58 by the nationalised industry. The stations closed in order of construction in 1975, 1981 and 1992.
Hams Hall was originally fitted out with GEC equipment throughout, and GEC advertised the new station heavily. GEC's main works were, of course, in Birmingham at Witton so it was hardly surprising that local industry was favoured although the two 30,000kv turbo-alternators at the heart of the station were construced by a subsidiary, Fraser & Chalmers, whose turbines business had been acquired by GEC in 1919.
This plate of the Prince's Generating Station, at Nechells, shows the ranks of timber cooling towers that long dominated the local scene.
Almost without exception, the UK's local authorities issued such 'official handbooks' during the mid-20th Century and, often running to several editions, they are a rich seam for looking at local history as they cover civic and municipal services along with various commercial and industrial concerns based there. The City of Birmingham, as befitted one of the UK's largest city authorities, produced in the 1920s and '30s, annual editions that vied with the City of Manchester's similar productions. The editions contain a series of sections dealing with the city's governance, the services provided - that at the time included the council's many trading undertakings such as gas, electricity, water and transport, along with social services such as hospitals that were then mostly run by the city council.
One of the largest trading undertakings was that of the city's Electric Supply Department that was most likley the largest such municipal supply undertaking in the UK. The Council had acquired the private generating company in 1900 along with those in Aston and Handsworth when both areas were annexed by the city in 1911. Work had started on a new generating station on a site in Nechells in 1914 but this was paused due to the outbreak of war and work only recommenced in 1918. The station was opened in 1923 by the Prince of Wales and became known as the Prince's Station. In post-WW2 years, and under nationalisation, a second station, Nechells B, was opened in 1954 but generation ceased on the site in 1982.
During the 1920s requirement for power grew dramatically and with growing Governmental control of the industry larger, more efficient generating stations were favoured and Birmingham began to construct a new power station on a greenfield site to the east of the city at Hams Hall. Constructed in 1928 the first phase of the station was opened, by the Duke of York, on 6 Novemebr 1929. The station was considered to be one of the largest and most efficient in Europe at the time and was an earlier user of pulverised coal as fuel. In time the City would open the second phase, as B station in 1942, and a third and final phase (four units were originally planned for) opened in 1956/58 by the nationalised industry. The stations closed in order of construction in 1975, 1981 and 1992.
Hams Hall was originally fitted out with GEC equipment throughout, and GEC advertised the new station heavily. GEC's main works were, of course, in Birmingham at Witton so it was hardly surprising that local industry was favoured although the two 30,000kv turbo-alternators at the heart of the station were construced by a subsidiary, Fraser & Chalmers, whose turbines business had been acquired by GEC in 1919.
Like most other towns and cities Leeds issued regular editions of an 'official guide' or handbook, usually full of information regarding civil services, amentities and industry aimed at both residents and potential investors. This c1937 Leeds edition is entitled "Leeds, the industrial capital of the North" - there's no mention of what say Manchester may have thought of that claim!
This section of the handbook looks primarily at the work of the City's municipal housing department rather than any of the speculative building being undertaken in the city by private developers. Line many British cities in the 1930s Leeds was grappling issues of appalling slum housing in the industrial inner city that had rapidly developed in the Victorian era of expansion. Indeed housing was a hughe issue in municipal politics, so much so that it had finally seen a swing to Labour control from Conservative in the 1930s. In 1933 a Housing Department was split from the City Engineer's Department and they, under the Housing Director R A H Livett ARIBA set to work with a will as can be seen here. As well as inner city clearance and redevelopment at lower densities, the city was to expand outwards to new planned suburban estates such as those already under way at Middleton and Gipton. Livett was to serve the city for many years and was highly respected officer.
As can be imagined, the outbreak of war in 1939 played havoc with such schemes and led to an even worse post-war backlog and many of the schemes seen here were not finally undertaken until the 1950s and '60s when Leeds also began to follow 'fashion' with tower blocks. One of the issues about these new outer suburbs was that of affordable transport for workers whose jobs often stayed in the central area, especially when added to the additonal costs of increased rents for the new properties. In Leeds, following on from the example of the reserved tramway lines to Middleton, similar schemes were planned for east Leeds as the maps show. Sadly, in the post-war era despite Leeds being a strongly pro-tram city until the early 1950s these were not to be constructed and public transport became wholly bus orientated as the existing tram network was closed down by 1959.
This page illustrates the proposed municipal lodging houses, intended for single persons and similar in intent to those constructed by the London County Council. Several municipalities built single-sex lodging houses. The text discusses the style of houses being constructed as well as flats.
In 1919 a rather splendid guide to many trades and businesses of the Yorkshire industrial towns of Sheffield and Rotherham - the official handbook of the Sheffield and Rotherham Chambers of Commerce. The guide was printed for them by Bemrose & Sons Ltd, the noted colour printers, and has a supplement containing various colour advertisements.
The massive steel making, shipbuilding and engineering company of Cammell, Laird & Co Ltd is represented over four pages - a lavish spread for a company that in 1919 had needless to say been hugely busy over the previous five years. Cammell Laird were not just a Sheffield concern with London offices as seen here but also had their major shipbuilding yards at Birkenhead in Cheshire. The company was formed in 1903 when the Sheffield steelmasters Charles Cammell & Co Ltd took over Laird's Shipbuilders to form a 'verticlally integrated' company that was better able to compete for warship orders on the basis that they both made the steel, especially the armour plating, as well as utilising the materials.
Cammell's dated back to 1837 as Johnston, Cammell & Co who were steel makers and file makers. The company prospered, becoming Charles Cammell in 1855, and moved into railway equipment and armourplating - developing several new works to match their growing business. Laird's shipbuilding interests dated to 1828 when the company, formed in 1824 as boilermakers, moved into construction. Although Cammell Laird, along with much of British industry, was riding high in 1919 the next few years would not be easy for them. The general trade depression of the early 1920s affected them and the loss of armaments business in post-war contraction, against the background of pacifism, made business difficult. In 1928 they amalgamated their steel plants with those of rivals Vickers and Vickers, Armstrong to form the English Steel Corporation and the following year their railway manufacturing business was spun off in an arrnagement with the Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Co to create what was best known as Metro-Cammell.
The four colour plates are of interest in that they show various scenes in the production of different activities within the company; the formation of armour plating, the manufacturing of laminated springs, the manufacturing of crucible steel and cutting of files. There's a temptation to see these images as 'colourised' photographs but it is more likely they are reproductions of original artworks commissioned by Cammel Laird. Indeed, the 'fititng of laminated springs' derives from a painting by Edward Frederick Skinner (1865 - 1924) and the original painitng from seems to date from a series he underttok for the company in 1917 - 1918 several of which survive in public colelctions in Sheffield and on the Wirral. Whereas his signature is obvious on this image two others, armour plating and crucible steel, have rather more indecipherable lettering on them.
A fascinating "official handbook" of the style produced usually for individual councils, this c1955 book was issued as part of the drive to attract new industries to the North East Lancashire Development Area. The area was one of a number designated under Government powers that were embodied in the Distribution of Industry Act, 1945, that was intended to assist 'declining areas' as well as attempting to spread the growing 'light' industries more equitably across the UK. It allowed the Board of Trade to construct factories for lease and to make loans for the development of such facilities as industrial estates as well as improving 'basic services' such as transport, power, housing health and the reclaimation of derelict land.
The North East Lancashire area consisted of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Barrowfield, Brierfield, Padiham, Trawden, parts of the Rural District of Burnley and even across the County boundary to include Barnoldswick, Earby and Salterforth in West Yorkshire.
The advert was issued by the North Western Electricity Board, set up at nationalisation in 1948. It subsumed numerous municipal undertakings across Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland and parts of Cheshire and Derbyshire, including local Burnley Corporation's, as well as various private companies, the largest of which was the Lancashire Electric Power Company. Way and above the largest council undertaking acquired was that of Manchester, one of the largest in the UK and I often wonder if Liverpool's large undertaking formed to core of the North Wales & Merseyside Board to ensure North Western wasn't to big and North Wales to small to be viable? The generating side of all the undertakings were transferred to the British Electricity Authority. In 1990 the Board was privatised as Norweb.
A rather glorious and beautifully produced (it is bound in slik tape) handbook describing the industrial and municipal services of the Lancashire borough of Salford and lavishly illustrated to show scenes of the borough and various industrial activities. It is obviously aimed at VIP visitors to the Civic Hall at the 1924 Briitsh Empire Exhibition at Wembley and as well as Salford's claims to fame and importance it includes descriptions of the various colonies and Dominions and their trade with Lancashire.
Salford was an important industrial centre in its own right, albeit often overshadowed by its neighbour Manchester, and indeed in 1926, two years after this publication, the County Borough was raised to City status matching that of its neighbour. Salford also shared the the spoils of the Manchester Ship Canal, that incredible engineering feat that had made landlocked Manchester one of the largest port facilities in the UK - if only because a large acreage of the docks themselves was administratively in Salford. It meant that the borough was well placed as an entrepot - handling imports and exports via rail and road links across the south and south east Lancashire conurbation. Needless to say cotton, raw in and finished goods out, made up a major part of this trade.
The book also describes Salford's municipal services such as transport, gas and electricity - seen as vital in 'selling' the borough to potential investors and traders. This advert is for Salford's Tramways Department and rather nicely shows an outline route map illustrating the tramways within the borough and the first few motor bus routes that where being operated. Salford, like many other Manchester area operators, ran an extensive system of linke and jointly operated services so for example both Manchester and Bury Corporation vehicles could be seen on Salford routes. The map shows the adjacent local authorities who, although they owned the actual tram tracks, leased operational rights to Salford Corporation. The system's tracks were also connected to those of a private operator, Lancashire United Tramways.
Salford was also famous in that due to the close proximity of the two city centres, divided by the River Irwell, many of its tram routes effectively terminated over the boundary in Manchester. The decision to scrap the trams was therefore bound up rather intimately with, in particular, Manchester's early decision to convert their system to buses, a process that strated in the 1930s but that was delayed by the outbreak of war in 1939. The last remaining trams soldiered on until 1947, two years before Manchester finally abandoned its last route and the motor bus reigned supreme. In 1969 Salford City Transport passed to SELNEC PTE although, in 1999, light rail returned to the City when the Metrolink system was extended to Eccles returning street operation to Eccles New Road.
A final touch is the coat of arms in the central cartouche of the map compass.
Hello everyone,
I’m proud to annonce you the release (09/2016) of my latest scientific handbook and here is the cover.
These drawings is actually the cover of a scientific handbook released a few months ago (09/2015) and called "Biodiversity and evolution of the animal world - A brief history of animals. This the fourth of a series of five handbooks, for all the nature lovers and the defenders of the animal cause, and of course for all for all those interested in the evolution and the living world. You will also find in my various illustration.
* But also (Cover Book) : Common Raccoon (Watercolor)
* And (Back Cover) : Red squirrel (Watercolor)
What soaps us of the animals ? When did they appear on Earth? Doesn't our distrust in their connection put in danger the future of humanity ? Which glance do we have to carry and transmit to the future generations concerning the animal cause ?
Our history closely seems related to that of the animals. Whereas the latter always did without the human ones, we are unable to live without them. Since indebted millenia us theirs sums of our food, of our clothing, our tools and our development. Their domestication as much will upset their life that ours. Regarded too long as vulgar machine tools, we neglected their sensitivity without really trying to communicate with them. The 20th century will have to be waited so that one is interested in their behavior, their suffering and their wellness.
We as discovered with our costs as they were genuine parasitic tanks, bacterial or viral, able to transmit diseases to us to the origin of devastating epidemics during our History. Today certain mosquitos still responsible for more than one million death each year, but is it is guilty truths of their multiplication excessively ?
So certain species can become invasive and threaten the biodiversity because of climatic conditions become inappropriate with their development, most animal species are threatened everywhere of disappearance by the Man. The MAN, become the species which threatens all the others. We invite you to plunge in this animal world which us fascine since childhood through the myths, the tales and the legends. Let us give him today the place which it deserves on our planet, it is not too late to share our territory with this friend and to redefine the equilibrium conditions to our common survival.
Foreword by Hubert Reeves
Jean-Christophe Gueguen (Myself) is a doctor of pharmacy, pharmacist and consultant in industrial plant resources.
You can now purchase this handbook on various online sites !
* First handbook : Biodiversity & Evolution Of The Living World
* Second handbook : Biodiversity & Evolution Of The Plant World
* Third handbook :Biodiversity & Evolution Of The Fungal World
Notebook design for new year greetings
Limited & numbered 800 copies
Client: Publicis Yorum
Concept, design & illustration: Orgut Cayli
Text: Melisa Kesmez, Orgut Cayli
Text on red page:
Make your mark!
Life is full of things... Things that make us happy, surprised, excited... Yet mostly those that make us busy... We hardly find a space to stand still or an empty place to think... The blank book that you are holding in your hands was produced to give you a space where you can mark your ideas... to avoid them melting into air and drifting away like a balloon... Do not hesitate to use your hands; grab a pen and make your ideas unforgettable. Your traces left behind might possibly bring one’s life passion, fellowship, grace, vitality, originality and wisdom...
My two page spread in The Sketchnote Handbook by Mike Rohde!
www.amazon.com/Mike-Rohde/e/B00A7VZW96/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
I've been boxing a lot of my books lately getting ready for the big move, when I ran across this weathered classic from my youth--my old Boy Scout Manual. This book dates from 1960 and contains all the lessons you need to know for living a sane and sensible life. Just flip through the pages and you'll find lessons on things like honor, cleanliness, health and the importance of public service. It's also a great reference for learning how to tie that square knot, set a fractured bone, send Morse code signals with a flag for those 911 moments and just generally how to always be prepared for anything that life may throw atcha.
I really appreciated the chapter that shows how to suck snake venom out of a snakebite wound and where would I be without practical advice as to the proper elbow to grasp when assisting those old ladies across busy streets. Today, in an age filled with more self-help books than we've had collective hot meals, it strikes me that this simple book contains all one needs to know to become a beneficial presence in society. I should have read it years ago.
Note to myself: pay more attention to the elbows.
Check out that cover art by Norman Rockwell.
Circa 1960
I love these 'official' handbooks. Most counties and boroughs issued them and whereas rural locations were usually 'holiday' based those for more industrial locations are often fascinating glimpses into a town or city's history and their manufacturing backgrounds. You do sometimes smile wryly as a photographer obviously struggled to make a certain place look 'beautiful'; for some of these places that wasn't easy! Staffordshire is straddling an interesting line here. We tend to forget that the old county was fairly rural, as this cover shows, but it also had two areas that formed part of the first Industrial Revolution in the Black Country and The Potteries. These two vignettes show those aspects of the old county. The typeface for the titling is rather fun. I say 'home' county as although born in Lancashire I grew up as a child in West Bromwich, part of the county, and there in school we were taught a lot about 'civic' and county pride learning a lot about the place we lived!
Like most other towns and cities Leeds issued regular editions of an 'official guide' or handbook, usually full of information regarding civil services, amentities and industry aimed at both residents and potential investors. This c1937 Leeds edition is entitled "Leeds, the industrial capital of the North" - there's no mention of what say Manchester may have thought of that claim!
This section of the handbook looks primarily at the work of the City's municipal housing department rather than any of the speculative building being undertaken in the city by private developers. Line many British cities in the 1930s Leeds was grappling issues of appalling slum housing in the industrial inner city that had rapidly developed in the Victorian era of expansion. Indeed housing was a hughe issue in municipal politics, so much so that it had finally seen a swing to Labour control from Conservative in the 1930s. In 1933 a Housing Department was split from the City Engineer's Department and they, under the Housing Director R A H Livett ARIBA set to work with a will as can be seen here. As well as inner city clearance and redevelopment at lower densities, the city was to expand outwards to new planned suburban estates such as those already under way at Middleton and Gipton. Livett was to serve the city for many years and was highly respected officer.
As can be imagined, the outbreak of war in 1939 played havoc with such schemes and led to an even worse post-war backlog and many of the schemes seen here were not finally undertaken until the 1950s and '60s when Leeds also began to follow 'fashion' with tower blocks. One of the issues about these new outer suburbs was that of affordable transport for workers whose jobs often stayed in the central area, especially when added to the additonal costs of increased rents for the new properties. In Leeds, following on from the example of the reserved tramway lines to Middleton, similar schemes were planned for east Leeds as the maps show. Sadly, in the post-war era despite Leeds being a strongly pro-tram city until the early 1950s these were not to be constructed and public transport became wholly bus orientated as the existing tram network was closed down by 1959.
This plan shows the proposed development and layout of the city's largest suburban scheme at Seacroft. It is very much along the lines of Garden City ideals with much parkland and green belt amongst the new Parkways. At the time these were intended to be high speed tramway reservations but sadly in post-war years these were not completed and buses served the bulk of the Seacroft estate as it was developed into the 1950s and '60s.
A page from the city's annual "Official Handbook" for 1939 in the Transport section. Birmingham City Transport was one of the various municipal trading departments that at the time also included the city's gas and electricity departments, both amongst the UK's largest undertakings. Employing over 8,000 people the Department had, on 31 March 1938, 701 tramcars, 863 motorbuses and 78 trolleybuses housed in nine tram depots and eleven bus garages along with central tram works at Kyotts Lake Road and buses at Tyburn Road ; the city was aiming to rapidly phase out trams and replace them primarily with motor buses as these adverts show.
As the city bought large quantities of more modern style motor buses from the late 1930s onwards a great number were from the Daimler concern in neighbouring Coventry and had bodies built in Birmingham itself; this is 643, AOG 643, one of a batch of 1935 Daimler COG5 chassis with bodywork from the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company who also built motor vehicle bodies such as these for the Transport Department whose name is shown here as the older Birmingham Corporation Tramways and Omnibus Department.
5" x 5" GlobalArts Handbook journal.
I'm using the official tangles "Mysterium" and "Rain"; and frmm Suzanne McNeil, "Pinwheels", "Bubbles" and "Bead-by-Bead".
Micron Pigma and Lyra Rembrandt oil-based color pencils. Again, the colors, especially the blues, didn't come through as dark as they are, but otherwise this is pretty much as it should be.
Notebook design for new year greetings
Limited & numbered 800 copies
Client: Publicis Yorum
Concept, design & illustration: Orgut Cayli
Text: Melisa Kesmez, Orgut Cayli
A fascinating "official handbook" of the style produced usually for individual councils, this c1955 book was issued as part of the drive to attract new industries to the North East Lancashire Development Area. The area was one of a number designated under Government powers that were embodied in the Distribution of Industry Act, 1945, that was intended to assist 'declining areas' as well as attempting to spread the growing 'light' industries more equitably across the UK. It allowed the Board of Trade to construct factories for lease and to make loans for the development of such facilities as industrial estates as well as improving 'basic services' such as transport, power, housing health and the reclaimation of derelict land.
The North East Lancashire area consisted of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Barrowfield, Brierfield, Padiham, Trawden, parts of the Rural District of Burnley and even across the County boundary to include Barnoldswick, Earby and Salterforth in West Yorkshire. Some large companies did indeed relocate works and plant here, including Lucas Industries, British Thomson-Houston and Platers & Stampers. The latter was best known as the manufacturers of the Prestige range of kitchen goods.
Plater & Stampers had, since 1936, been backed by the US EKCO company who thanks to EK Cole, Ecko Radio, of Southend on Sea, couldn't use the name here. They made domestic and kitchen equipment and appliances and post-war expansion saw them start to use the "Prestige" name that became a well known brand - indeed, we still have a Prestige hand wisk and the the base of one of their pressure cookers. The factories have long since gone but the brand name survives under different ownership.
Almost without exception, the UK's local authorities issued such 'official handbooks' during the mid-20th Century and, often running to several editions, they are a rich seam for looking at local history as they cover civic and municipal services along with various commercial and industrial concerns based there. The publications are usually issued by one of a handful of specialist publishers such as Burrow & Co Ltd. The cover nearly always defaults to a version of the 'coat of arms' of the relevant council - the 'heraldic achievements', as seen here. Suitable muncicipal pomp!
The handbook contains this fold out abridged street plan upon which are shown the City Transport's bus routes in c1954, Leicester having scrapped its last tram route in 1949. The plan also shows the growing suburbs and council housing schemes. Oddly the plan also lists the "out of town" services provided by the local bus company, the famous "Midland Red" or Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company, whose routes generally ran beyond the boundary and into the surrounding county. Oddly it doesn't actually list the Council's own municipal bus services! The handbook notes the Transport Department's fleet stood at 17 single deck vehicles and 219 double deck buses.
I saw this newly published book "Experimental Photography - A Handbook of Techniques" in a bookshop, and after a quick flick through, decided it was right up my street. It wasn't until I got it home and started reading, that I realised I'd written three of the pages! It was a couple of years ago, and I'd completely forgotten about it...
Harry Golombek - The Game of Chess
Penguin Books PH24, 1954
Cover Artist: Hans Schmoller
"One of Britain's foremost international masters describes the game in all its phases. A book for beginners as well as for those who already know how to play."
Notebook design for new year greetings
Limited & numbered 800 copies
Client: Publicis Yorum
Concept, design & illustration: Orgut Cayli
Text: Melisa Kesmez, Orgut Cayli
The official handbook to the City of Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire, world famous centre of the pottery industry and the edition published in the immediate post-war period, 1947. Most local authorities produced such handbooks designed to both inform local residents of services and amenities as well as to entice vistors of both a commercial or tourist nature. It is fair to say that this for Stoke is honest in that it casts the net of tourist attractions in a wide ring around this industrial centre - that said, Staffordshire and neighbouring Derbyshire do have some very scenic delights!
The City and County Borough of Stoke on Trent was an unusually early example of local government amalgamation on a large scale in the UK prior to the 1974 local government reorganisation. Although relatively small alterations to borough boundaries, and the annexation of smaller authorities by neighbouring larger ones was common, the creation of the new County Borough in 1910 was more akin to contiental practices, such as in Germany and Wuppertal. As early as 1888 there had been pressure to reorganise the numerous small authorities in the north of Staffordshire, possibly as a County of Staffordshire Potteries. This never took off but in 1910 the six towns of Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley, Burslem, Longton, Tunstall and Fenton amalgamated as the new County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent. It expanded and was raised to City status in 1925 and gained the office of Lord Mayor in 1928. The long term aim of including the neighbouring Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme was always thwarted due to that town's opposition and indeed even in the 1974 reorganisation they remained separate authorities.
The handbook needless to say contains much information about the city's municipal services that included gas and electricity supply although the guide being published months before nationalisation of both industries would have been the last edition to include them thus. The one unusual omission for such a city was the fact that local public transport services remained in the hands of a 'private' operator who had taken over from the franchised tramways and indeed, Stoke was noted for not just the main operator, Potteries Motor Traction, but a plethora of independent operators who lasted for many years. It also includes a wealth of information as to the many pottery companies, ancilliary industries as well as the still important coal, iron and steel industries that made the City a famously 'smoky' place.
This second page of plates shows streetscenes from Stafford Street in Longton, the Town Hall in Stoke on Trent replete with high-powered gas street lighting, and of Tunstall's Market Square and Town Hall.
A page from the city's annual "Official Handbook" for 1939 in the Transport section. Birmingham City Transport was one of the various municipal trading departments that at the time also included the city's gas and electricity departments, both amongst the UK's largest undertakings. Employing over 8,000 people the Department had, on 31 March 1938, 701 tramcars, 863 motorbuses and 78 trolleybuses housed in nine tram depots and eleven bus garages along with central tram works at Kyotts Lake Road and buses at Tyburn Road ; the city was aiming to rapidly phase out trams and replace them primarily with motor buses as this section shows.
Seen here is a photo of the 'latest' type of motor omnibus; CVP 153, 1053 in the fleet, being a 1937 delivery of Daimler COG5 chassis with a Metropolitan-Cammell-Weymann body, one of numerous similar vehicles from the late 1930s that were in many ways the city's 'standard' bus. It is seen billed as being on the 1/1A route to Moseley that was often the scene for official photography as well as for 'new' buses, rumour having it that it was the route the Department's General Manager's house was situated on.
Like most other towns and cities Leeds issued regular editions of an 'official guide' or handbook, usually full of information regarding civil services, amentities and industry aimed at both residents and potential investors. This c1937 Leeds edition is entitled "Leeds, the industrial capital of the North" - there's no mention of what say Manchester may have thought of that claim!
This section of the handbook looks primarily at the work of the City's municipal housing department rather than any of the speculative building being undertaken in the city by private developers. Line many British cities in the 1930s Leeds was grappling issues of appalling slum housing in the industrial inner city that had rapidly developed in the Victorian era of expansion. Indeed housing was a hughe issue in municipal politics, so much so that it had finally seen a swing to Labour control from Conservative in the 1930s. In 1933 a Housing Department was split from the City Engineer's Department and they, under the Housing Director R A H Livett ARIBA set to work with a will as can be seen here. As well as inner city clearance and redevelopment at lower densities, the city was to expand outwards to new planned suburban estates such as those already under way at Middleton and Gipton. Livett was to serve the city for many years and was highly respected officer.
As can be imagined, the outbreak of war in 1939 played havoc with such schemes and led to an even worse post-war backlog and many of the schemes seen here were not finally undertaken until the 1950s and '60s when Leeds also began to follow 'fashion' with tower blocks. One of the issues about these new outer suburbs was that of affordable transport for workers whose jobs often stayed in the central area, especially when added to the additonal costs of increased rents for the new properties. In Leeds, following on from the example of the reserved tramway lines to Middleton, similar schemes were planned for east Leeds as the maps show. Sadly, in the post-war era despite Leeds being a strongly pro-tram city until the early 1950s these were not to be constructed and public transport became wholly bus orientated as the existing tram network was closed down by 1959.
This page finishes the Housing section discussing the issues of rents for the schemes. The city's health is mentioned here discussing the hugely important work of the Public Health Department before many functions were taken over at national level.