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Art Deco on the Canal


Heartland

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The Art Deco style of design can be seen in various waterway structures and buildings when these structures were built in the 1930's. This artistic influence is seen on the Grand Union in warehouse buildings and bridges. But it also can be seen elsewhere for example the Union Canal aqueduct in Edinburgh that bears the date 1937:

 

Uncnl.jpg

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We are the Ovaltine's

Happy girls and boys.

The art-deco Ovaltine factory was situated at Kings Langley, sandwiched between the GU and WCML. It was demolished in 2005.  It had a clock tower with a huge thermometer on it as well which was always pointed out to us kids by my mum as we passed by on the train to Liverpool.

272923_6f318f91 Ovaltine factory.jpg

Again

272923_6f318f91 Ovaltine factory.jpg

Edited by bizzard
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Keeping the facade has been the case for all sorts of period buildings. As far as I am concerned it does little for the structure as what is often kept is minor and sometimes a grotesque modern building is grafted onto it. In Birmingham at 140 Edmund Street, this was exactly the case where the old facade is dwarfed by a high rise block. Keeping the face in such cases is rather pointless. 

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2 hours ago, Heartland said:

Keeping the facade has been the case for all sorts of period buildings. As far as I am concerned it does little for the structure as what is often kept is minor and sometimes a grotesque modern building is grafted onto it. In Birmingham at 140 Edmund Street, this was exactly the case where the old facade is dwarfed by a high rise block. Keeping the face in such cases is rather pointless. 

There are several notable buildings in Uxbridge that have been hollowed out, leaving the outer veneer. Most were done some years ago and are better than some of the recent ones. The worst one i've seen was in North London, I can't remember the exact location but it was a college, They had only retained the front of the  original building and built the new one about half a metre inside of this, the windows of new didn't match up with those of the original facia! I can only imagine the dingy interior of the new structure, but externally it was hideous.  

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6 hours ago, BWM said:

I'm sure that it was demolished, with the facia used to front the newly built flats. A modern get out clause to redevelop listed buildings. 

I stand corrected !  I still think it's better than total demolition and cardboard cutout houses 

 

Of course in this day and age we all need to consider energy efficiency and having lived in a converted victorian villa in Leamington Spa i can tell you it looked nice but was draughty due to the local preservation officer insisting on the original windows being preserved and not double glazed :)

Edited by CV32
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Some others that come to mind: Whiteley's department store in Queensway. Opened in 1911, and demolished save the facade in the eighties; The Hoover Building, now a Tesco's; and Staples Inn in Holborn - at least some of the interior has been retained. From a delivery I made there in the eighties, the interior looked so modern it defied any resemblance to the exterior, which as many will know is depicted on the "Old Holborn" tobacco products.

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Bentalls at Kingston on Thames is another one. Not canalside but pretty close to the Thames. I lived in Hampton Wick when the old shop was pulled down (1992) and converted to a shopping centre, retaining the 1930s art deco façade. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentalls

 

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2 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

Another Iconic Art Deco building less than a mile from the Grand Union at Perivale, London. I passed it every day for nine years on my way to work.

 

Hoover_Building.jpg.1824ada246d5aa52ec46d9fc79cd2720.jpg

The interior was very nice too, but i don't know if it was saved.One of the best art deco interiors i've seen was in the Gillette building on the A4 at isleworth-I dread to think what was lost in the other glorious buildings on that short stretch of road that were demolished. 

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1 hour ago, BWM said:

The interior was very nice too, but i don't know if it was saved.One of the best art deco interiors i've seen was in the Gillette building on the A4 at isleworth-I dread to think what was lost in the other glorious buildings on that short stretch of road that were demolished. 

Yes I remember it well from when I had (several) apprenticeship interviews there in 1963, I was not successful!!

I Believe that a lot of the interior has been preserved, and the flats, whilst modern, the Agent's brochure suggests that they retain many of the art deco features:- http://www.idmproperties.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Show-Flat-–-Hoover-Building.pdf

The entrance hall has certaily been retained

59909a7e0f020_hooverinterior.jpg.341550a3655402477f7036420c37d1e4.jpg

Edited by David Schweizer
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There are occasions when facade retention goes wrong. A notable one was the Lamberts Factory on Talbot Street Nottingham - the tower and part of the facade collapsed into the street fortunately at about 2am. Hopefully this link will work http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NTGM003000&pos=2&action=zoom

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10 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

Yes I remember it well from when I had (several) apprenticeship interviews there in 1963, I was not successful!!

I Believe that a lot of the interior has been preserved, and the flats, whilst modern, the Agent's brochure suggests that they retain many of the art deco features:- http://www.idmproperties.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Show-Flat-–-Hoover-Building.pdf

The entrance hall has certaily been retained

59909a7e0f020_hooverinterior.jpg.341550a3655402477f7036420c37d1e4.jpg

Thanks, 2 stunning pictures of the Hoover Building - I drove past it for years, always had a big, beautifully decorated Christmas tree outside in December.

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11 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

Yes I remember it well from when I had (several) apprenticeship interviews there in 1963, I was not successful!!

I Believe that a lot of the interior has been preserved, and the flats, whilst modern, the Agent's brochure suggests that they retain many of the art deco features:- http://www.idmproperties.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Show-Flat-–-Hoover-Building.pdf

The entrance hall has certaily been retained

59909a7e0f020_hooverinterior.jpg.341550a3655402477f7036420c37d1e4.jpg

Nice picture, it has been a while since i've been in there. It is good to know that most has been preserved, and a perfect example of all that is wrong with just keeping the frontage. 

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Another bridge, this time Chesterfield Canal at Tapton. That the bridge has the date for canal operation, is of interest. This was a 1970's view- RCHS Michael Oxley Collection- the numbering is in an art deco style- or is it the style promoted on the London Underground?  

92415.jpg

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2 hours ago, Heartland said:

Another bridge, this time Chesterfield Canal at Tapton. That the bridge has the date for canal operation, is of interest. This was a 1970's view- RCHS Michael Oxley Collection- the numbering is in an art deco style- or is it the style promoted on the London Underground?  

92415.jpg

 Certainly not the London Underground numbering which was exclusive to LT and known as Johnston Sans. Nor is it Gill Sans which was developed from Johnston Sans. The numbers three, seven and nine on the bridge dates are all significantly different from the London Tansprort numbering, which is shown below:-

599174d91f074_johnstonsans.jpg.591f340defda8954d25c94b2bf58a795.jpg

Edited by David Schweizer
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3 hours ago, Heartland said:

Thanks David, I suspect the LNER had their own style of numbering, as they owned the Chesterfield Canal at this time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Sans

Eric Gill and LNER officials: 

Eric Gill and the hand-painted Gill Sans head board for the LNER Flying Scotsman, at Kings Cross station, London, c1933

Eric Gill and the hand-painted Gill Sans head board for the LNER Flying Scotsman, at Kings Cross station, London, c1933

The London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) decided in 1933 to standardize on the Gill Sans san serif typefaces - and they commissioned Eric Gill, creator of the typeface, to hand paint a headboard for the Flying Scotsman train service (London to Edinburgh) - seen here hauled by locomotive 4475 "Flying Fox" (I think) - 4472 being the named locomotive 'Flying Scotsman'. Gill exacted a price from the LNER - a cab ride!

 

Gill is the somewhat unconventionally dressed man on the far left. Far right, in more sober attire, is C G G Dandridge, the advertising manager of the LNER who pushed through the far-sighted idea of the railway having a single, corporate typeface - something most current UK railway operating companies don't seem to have grasped.

 

Edited by Ray T
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The LNER did not adopt it until 1933  two years after the bridge was built. The type face on the bridge is not Gill Sans (see below), it is similar but could just be an archuitect's version of the much earlier London Transprt Type face, which was designed by Eric Gill's tutor, Edward Johnston.

 

GillSans.gif

Edited by David Schweizer
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On 11/08/2017 at 21:21, CV32 said:

I stand corrected !  I still think it's better than total demolition and cardboard cutout houses

Surely you mean "potty little houses"?

(An oblique reference to Harry H Corbett phrase when discussing houses in the film "The Bargee"). :P

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On 8/14/2017 at 20:55, Ray T said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Sans

Eric Gill and LNER officials: 

Eric Gill and the hand-painted Gill Sans head board for the LNER Flying Scotsman, at Kings Cross station, London, c1933

Eric Gill and the hand-painted Gill Sans head board for the LNER Flying Scotsman, at Kings Cross station, London, c1933

The London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) decided in 1933 to standardize on the Gill Sans san serif typefaces - and they commissioned Eric Gill, creator of the typeface, to hand paint a headboard for the Flying Scotsman train service (London to Edinburgh) - seen here hauled by locomotive 4475 "Flying Fox" (I think) - 4472 being the named locomotive 'Flying Scotsman'. Gill exacted a price from the LNER - a cab ride!

 

Gill is the somewhat unconventionally dressed man on the far left. Far right, in more sober attire, is C G G Dandridge, the advertising manager of the LNER who pushed through the far-sighted idea of the railway having a single, corporate typeface - something most current UK railway operating companies don't seem to have grasped.

 

Not at all boaty perhaps, but my late mother-in-law, who became a professional artist, was taught by Eric Gill when she was at Art College!

 

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