Subject: ‘British Towns’

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In 1821 Brighton Pavilion was completed at a cost of £502,797 6s. 10d.

Posted in Architecture, Arts and Crafts, British Towns, Famous landmarks, Historical articles, History, Royalty on Saturday, 30 January 2016

This edited article about architecture originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 439 published on 13 June 1970.

Brighton Pavilion, picture, image, illustration

General view of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, East Sussex.

If a certain Doctor Richard Russell had not very fervently advised sea-water as a cure for many ills, George Prince of Wales, later King George the Fourth, would never have come to Brighton to try the cure for himself. Nor would he have ever dreamt of building for himself a small palace, or pavilion, of Eastern design down by the sea.

Brighton – or Brighthelmstone as it was then called – was a simple fishing town when the Prince of Wales arrived there on Sunday, September 7th, 1783. He was twenty-one years of age. He liked the place, and came to it again the following year when he rented a house.

The Prince was extravagant, and so vast had grown his debts that in 1786 he decided to close his London residence of Carlton House and go to Brighton to lead a simple, and healthy life.

This time he rented a house on that part of the town known as the Steyne, the rent being £150 a year. This house was to be changed and changed again until finally it became his dream home, the fantastic Royal Brighton Pavilion as we know it today.

When first he rented his “house” the Prince of Wales had secretly married a Mrs. Fitzherbert who lived in a house nearby. They were happy enough at first, but George Prince of Wales was a restless man, and forgetting his resolution of economy, he decided to rebuild the house as a “Marine Pavilion”. The actual owner of the house was one Thomas Kemp. Brighton’s Kemp Town of today is named after him.

The well-known architect, Henry Holland, was given the commission to design the new house on the old site. 150 workmen were employed, and in a remarkably short time a classically simple residence was built. The grounds were laid out by two pupils of that great landscape designer Lancelot – “Capability” – Brown. Everything was as it should be – no mad “new ideas” or revolutionary designs. Although one touch which forecast the growing romantic ideas of George, Prince of Wales, was that he had in his bedroom . . . a glass so situated as to afford the Prince an extensive view of the sea and the Steyne as he lay in bed.

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The best pictures from educational trade cards, 96

Posted in Ancient History, Architecture, Best pictures, Bible, British Towns, Famous battles, Famous landmarks, Farming, Heroes and Heroines, Historical articles, History, Insects, Legend, Myth, Religion, Trade, War on Thursday, 26 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows the destruction and burning of Troy.

Troy, picture, image, illustration

The destruction and burning of Troy

The second picture shows manufacturing Cheshire cheese in England.

cheese, picture, image, illustration

Manufacturing Cheshire cheese in England

The third picture shows a monk in his cell.

monk, picture, image, illustration

A monastic cell

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

Building a motorway in 1960s England

Posted in Britain in the 60s, British Countryside, British Towns, Cars, Engineering, Historical articles, History, Transport, Travel on Saturday, 21 November 2015

Here is a superb panoramic picture of one of the great infrastructure projects of the 1960s, namely the building of motorways. These astonishing feats of civil engineering can be appreciated when viewed from above as in this image, which reveals the vast scale of the earth works along with the vehicles and many workers involved. The helicopter completes a picture of modernisation and progress, as does the already completed section cutting through the beautiful English countryside.

motorway, picture, image, illustration

Building a motorway in 1960s England by Wilf Hardy

Many more pictures of Britain in the 1960s can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.

Greengrocers in pre-decimalisation Britain

Posted in Britain in the 60s, British Towns, Children, Historical articles, History, Trade on Saturday, 21 November 2015

This is a brilliantly detailed and realistic picture of a typical Greengrocers in pre-decimalisation Britain. The old £.s.d. currency is apparent in the price signs, and the weighing scales are particularly evocative of the era, but so is the surprising lack of variety in the shop, which only stocks the relatively few fruit and vegetables eaten in Britain at that time.

Greengrocers

Greengrocers in pre-decimalisation Britain

Many more pictures of Britain in the 1960s can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.

A typical English Garage in the 1960s

Posted in British Countryside, British Towns, Cars, Children, Historical articles, History, Trade, Transport, Travel on Wednesday, 18 November 2015

Our colourful and charming picture shows a typical English Garage in the 1960s, and contains many details redolent of the time and full of retro-charm. These include the AA logo on a sign, the Brand heads on the petrol pumps and of course the classic cars on the forecourt.

garage, picture, image, illustration

A typical English Garage in the 1960s

Many more pictures of the 1960s can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from ‘The Illustrated Times’, 98

Posted in Architecture, Best pictures, British Towns, Castles, Famous landmarks, Historical articles, History, Institutions, Law, Leisure, London, Religion, Rivers, The Illustrated Times on Wednesday, 18 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from ‘The Illustrated Times’, a nineteenth-century illustrated newspaper and rich source of remarkable engravings.
The first picture shows filling up the Shaft previous to firing the Battery for the explosion of Old Rochester Bridge.

bridge, picture, image, illustration

The Explosion of Old Rochester Bridge, filling up the Shaft previous to firing the Battery

The second picture shows the interior of a Spanish Country Inn.

Spain, picture, image, illustration

Interior of a Spanish Country Inn by A Rouargue

The third picture shows Newgate Chapel.

Newgate, picture, image, illustration

Newgate Chapel

High-resolution scans of all the illustrations from ‘The Illustrated Times’ (London 1855-1866) can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from ‘The Illustrated Times’, 85

Posted in Architecture, Best pictures, British Towns, Famous landmarks, Historical articles, History, Institutions, Leisure, London, Philanthropy, Politics, The Illustrated Times, War on Wednesday, 18 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from ‘The Illustrated Times’, a nineteenth-century illustrated newspaper and rich source of remarkable engravings.
The first picture shows the London Orphan Asylum.

London, picture, image, illustration

London Orphan Asylum

The second picture shows Russian troops in Warsaw.

Warsaw, picture, image, illustration

Encampment of Russian Troops in Saxony-Place, Warsaw

The third picture shows the new People’s Park at Halifax, Yorkshire.

Halifax, picture, image, illustration

Final Transfer of the People's Park at Halifax by Mr Frank Crossley, MP

High-resolution scans of all the illustrations from ‘The Illustrated Times’ (London 1855-1866) can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from ‘The Illustrated Times’, 76

Posted in Architecture, Best pictures, Birds, British Towns, Customs, Famous landmarks, Historical articles, History, Leisure, Politics, Religion, Royalty, Sport, The Illustrated Times on Tuesday, 17 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from ‘The Illustrated Times’, a nineteenth-century illustrated newspaper and rich source of remarkable engravings.
The first picture shows the Fete Day of the Dead in the Cemetery of Montmartre, Paris.

Paris, picture, image, illustration

The Fete Day of the Dead in the Cemetery of Montmartre, Paris by A Racinet

The second picture shows a Pigeon-Shooting Match at Hurlingham Park between Members of the Houses of Lords and Commons.

shooting, picture, image, illustration

Pigeon-Shooting Match at Hurlingham Park between Members of the Houses of Lords and Commons

The third picture shows Queen Victoria at the new Town Hall, Leeds.

Leeds, picture, image, illustration

Arrival of Her Majesty at the Town Hall, Leeds

High-resolution scans of all the illustrations from ‘The Illustrated Times’ (London 1855-1866) can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from ‘The Illustrated Times’, 75

Posted in Architecture, Best pictures, British Towns, Education, Historical articles, History, Institutions, Inventions, Leisure, London, Sport, The Illustrated Times, Trade on Tuesday, 17 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from ‘The Illustrated Times’, a nineteenth-century illustrated newspaper and rich source of remarkable engravings.
The first picture shows communal football at Kingston-on-Thames on Shrove Tuesday.

football, picture, image, illustration

Foot-Ball at Kingston-on-Thames on Shrove Tuesday by J J Hardwick

The second picture shows Electro-Plated Shop Front at Sydney, New South Wales.

shop, picture, image, illustration

Electro-Plated Shop Front at Sydney, New South Wales

The third picture shows the first meeting of the London School Board.

schools, picture, image, illustration

First Meeting of the London School Board

High-resolution scans of all the illustrations from ‘The Illustrated Times’ (London 1855-1866) can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from ‘The Illustrated Times’, 51

Posted in Architecture, Best pictures, British Towns, Children, Famous landmarks, Historical articles, History, Leisure, Politics, Religion, Royalty, Sea, The Illustrated Times, Travel on Monday, 16 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from ‘The Illustrated Times’, a nineteenth-century illustrated newspaper and rich source of remarkable engravings.
The first picture shows the Royal Palace at Madrid.

Madrid, picture, image, illustration

The Royal Palace at Madrid

The second picture shows the seaside in Autumn.

seaside, picture, image, illustration

The Seaside in Autumn

The third picture shows the Sacred Gate of the Kremlin at Moscow.

Moscow, picture, image, illustration

The Sacred Gate of the Kremlin at Moscow

High-resolution scans of all the illustrations from ‘The Illustrated Times’ (London 1855-1866) can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.