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SWIAS Items of News
Secret Underground Cities was
the title of Nick McCamley’s fully
illustrated talk to an appreciative
audience at the October 2008 meeting.
As a 17 year old, he had ‘discovered’
the remains of the secret wartime
underground ammunition store in the
old stone quarry at Monkton Farleigh;
it was just the start of an interest
that has led to him becoming an
authority on the subject with several
books published on underground
industrial archaeology.
As early as 1934 the government had
realised a war with Germany was
likely. Believing that the South East
of the country was in the greatest
danger from aircraft bombing, the War
Office started to take over old
quarries outside of this area and
secretly convert them for storage of
weaponry and as possible emergency
centres for wartime operations.
They had not foreseen the possibility
of the fall of France.
The quarries around Corsham turned
into underground cities; the quarry at
Monkton Farleigh alone had 47½ acres
of storage space, a railway, a power
station, a ventilation system and all
the machinery for handling vast
quantities of ammunition down miles of
tunnels.
***********************
HIGH POST AERODROME by NORMAN
PARKER
Monograph No.18 - High Post
Aerodrome-
an illustrated account by Norman
Parker,
traces the development of the site of
this grass aerodrome from its opening
in 1930, through its WW2 career and on
to present day use. High Post was
first home to a civilian flying club,
then used by the Royal Artillery
Flying Club alongside the civilian
one. Next came the RCAF and the RAF
before it became a production and test
flight centre for military aircraft
for most of WW2. After the war it
returned to civilian flying, but
closed in 1947 after a short life of
17 years. A small part is now used for
industry, but most of the land has now
returned to agriculture.
The monograph is illustrated with many
old maps and archive pictures of
buildings and aircraft, the latter
including the Robinson Redwing;
Simmonds Spartan; Gypsy Moth; the
prototype Spiteful and the Cagnet
undergoing trials.
To buy extra copies, please see
information on the SWIAS Publications
page.
**************************
At the October 2006 meeting,
members were treated to “a load of old
rubbish” by glass expert, David
Orman, who gave an insight into
domestic tastes a hundred years ago,
as judged by what was thrown away
around Dorchester. His talk inspired a
range of questions from the
audience.
He showed pictures of a selection of
glass and ceramics finds. While many
bottles were from the local Eldridge
Pope brewery, who had over 100
different types of bottle, other finds
were medicine and ointment jars, glass
lamps, blue glass poison bottles,
spirit jars, ink bottles and tobacco
pipes. All of these he was able to
identify and some had travelled a
surprisingly long way.
*****************************
RELIC OF BRUNEL'S GREAT EASTERN IS
SEEN AGAIN Part of the number
one funnel from The Great Eastern is
now on show near to Brunel’s other
great ship, the SS Great Britain, in
the Great Western Dock in Bristol.
This piece of the funnel was cut out
in 1859, and acquired by the Weymouth
Waterworks when, after an explosion on
board, the ill-fated ship put into
Weymouth for repair. Holes were
drilled in the funnel and for the last
140 years it has lain in a hole in the
ground high above Weymouth at the
Sutton Poyntz reservoir, acting as a
water strainer. SWIAS members had a
sneak preview during a summer outing
in 1996, when the lid was raised on
its hiding place to reveal a rusting
cylinder, which, to be honest,
required some effort to imagine its
past status and glory. But it is the
only known surviving relic of the
Great Eastern which was six times
larger than any other vessel of her
time. Brunel died a few days after
news of
the explosion reached him. Already a
very sick man, this must have been the
last straw. The reservoir was
demolished in 2003 and the funnel
donated to the Great Britain Trust. A
visit to the SS Great Britain was the
highlight of another of SWIAS’s summer
excursions. *****************
SWIAS members enjoyed a late
Summer outing to Bristol by train on
15 September 2005 to view the most
recent restorations to the SS Great
Britain, taking in Bristol’s
Industrial Museum on the way there.
Since the Society’s last visit much
has been done to the ship and
preparations are well under way for
the ‘Brunel celebrations’ next year.
The water-filled glass ceiling to the
dry dock gave a good ‘underwater’
impression to inspecting the lower
hull. The grand dining room looked
splendid, contrasting with the tiny
cabins most of the passengers had to
squeeze into. On deck, the model of
the cow in her little hutch was also a
reminder of conditions for any animals
on board, though whether it would have
been a black and white Friesian type
cow at that time seems unlikely.
The day ended with a ferry trip back
up the river in bright sunshine,
through the old dockland scenery and
grand new developments, to Temple
Meads for the return train journey.
***************************8
THE FAWCETT DISC …..Have you seen
one recently …..? (by Don Cross)
HENRY FAWCETT'S STATUE in
Salisbury Market Place is the only one
everyone knows in the city. But apart
from the brief inscription of his
career around his feet, no one gains
much other information about him or
why he is there. As Postmaster
General in Gladstone's second
administration 1880 - 1885, Henry
Fawcett introduced a number of new
schemes, including the Parcel Post in
1883, the Centenary of which was
celebrated by a special GPO postcard
in 1983. By looking at the statue
however, we can notice that his eyes
are closed. Out pheasant shooting
with his father on Harnham Hill in
1858 he was unfortunately blinded for
life by a gun accident aged 25. He
nevertheless went on to become
Professor at Cambridge, an MP and, in
the 1880s, Postmaster General. The
Post Box, the idea of another man with
Salisbury connections, Anthony
Trollope, had
been introduce in 1852, and has seen
many variations such as GPO pillar,
wall and other styles of post boxes,
since 1857. (See "Old Letter Boxes" in
the Shire booklet series). All
had "collection plates" in various
styles fixed to the front giving
collection times. On going to post in
London on one occasion as PMG, Fawcett
discovered of course that blind folk
cannot read the details. He ordered
that an additional "collection tablet"
be added with a selection of others,
numbered or abbreviated, held in a
rack inside the box door - the postman
to change the "Fawcett Disc" to the
next correct one on emptying the box.
The discs were engraved to help the
blind folk "feel" the time of the next
collection. British postboxes remain
all over the "British Empire"
countries still - most with Fawcett
disc spaces screwed on but empty.
The Post Office this year, with all
its labour and service problems, has
decided also to remove all evidence of
the Fawcett Disc as it can no longer
guarantee collection times! What a
shame for the only man to anticipate
the era of Disability Acts! What would
his wife, feminist militant and
suffragette, Millicent Garrett DBE,
have to say? (it might even have been
HER idea!) PLEASE COULD WE SAVE
SOME EXAMPLES OF THE DISC? EVEN PUT AN
OLD POST BOX OR PILLAR NEARBY WITH
EXAMPLES AND THE FAWCETT STORY FOR
VISITORS - AND MAYBE LOCALS TOO? ...
Don Cross *******************
THE EARLY USE OF CONCRETETHE
Wiltshire Buildings Record would be
interested to hear of any concrete
buildings in Wiltshire dating from
around 1870. It appears from a recent
book 'The English Model Farm' by
Susanna Wade, that this county was in
the forefront of experiments to use
concrete for farm buildings and
cottages. Contact the Record on 01225
713740 (Office open on
Tuesdays). ************
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