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Aerial view of the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley
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Charabanc 1926 (below)
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Visit to the British Empire Exhibition, 1925.
Image kindly loaned by Grace Everson of Arrington.
Image: 1925, posed scene, quality of the available
image (large print) is rated as 'excellent'.
Location: Unknown but probably Arrington prior to departure
A party of Arrington villagers leaving on a charabanc outing
to Wembley in 1925. It is assumed that this was a visit to the British
Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park (left), which had been held over for
a second year. The journey time must been significant if the maximum speed
of 12 miles per hour was observed!
Please e-mail
if you can put any names to the faces.
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"It cost ten million pounds to construct
a miniature British Empire at Wembley. The 1924 Exhibition was designed
as a gigantic showcase for imperial wealth and prosperity. The buildings,
including the sports stadium, covered 220 acres.
"Among the more impressive pavilions
was the Palace of Engineering which was six and a half times the
size of Trafalgar Square and the largest concrete construction in
the world. The Indian exhibits were housed in a replica of the Taj
Mahal, Ceylon displayed a collection of pearl necklaces insured
for a million pounds and Canada produced a life-size statue of the
Prince of Wales, made of butter.
"One of the most popular novelties
was the Queen’s Dolls’ House, a complete mansion built to the scale
of one inch to the foot. Leading artists and craftsmen had taken
two years to complete it. So detailed was the design that the library,
22 inches high, contained 170 books bound in red and grey leather.
Many of these miniature volume were written in manuscript by their
authors who included Rudyard Kipling, Arnold Bennett, Thomas Hardy
and Joseph Conrad.
"The Wembley Exhibition was opened
on 23rd April 1924 and about one hundred thousand sightseers turned
up on the first day. On Whit Monday, despite an unofficial underground
strike, three times that number of visitors packed the avenues and
pavilions. The demand for tickets was such that it was decided to
open the Exhibition for a second year."
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