Drill halls Options

[Graeme Fisher]

No Roger

It's you and your fellow forum members who have done us proud.

Rarely has a county elicited such a response. The White Rose Army has rallied and delivered a most comprehensive county.

Ta for the info on Bridlington.

Tell me whn you're next Bradford way.

Graeme

[rogerpopeye]

Hi Graeme,

I only live 8 miles away and my cousin lives in Bradford, so ask away please, it can be arranged.

Cheers Roger.

[Dragon]

Gwyn's post somewhat understates things. ... the amount of effort to convert all this stuff into webpages has been enormous.
I think the results are well worth it. ...

Thanks, Graeme. I have to say the most enjoyable bit was taking my camera round Yorkshire on a massive hall-crawl earlier this summer.

While praising others, you're understating the immense investment of your time over several years trawling the historical sources to compile the database which underpins the entire project. I know I would never have had the patience or diligence to do that. Indeed, most people wouldn't have had the vision in the first place.

The fact that you're getting queries from people who need authoritative data for their own projects is very rewarding. You have a lot of information which is not on the website and which is helping a wider audience than simply this forum.

Gwyn

[Chucka]

I'm engaged in a project to record the premises of Britain's Territorial Army in the period 1908 - 1914.

Many drill halls have new owners and uses; many are unwanted and derelict, awaiting demolition and redevelopment. But either way, these important parts of our military, architectural and social history remain mostly unrecorded, and I an trying to do so before the bulldozers arrive!

A number of businesses and individuals have already provided information and images on the basis that I am not involved in any commercial enterprise, and that copyright for all photos remains with the owner of the original image. It is hoped that the information will become a book or website to make it available to a wider audience. All contributors will be acknowledged.

If you can help this project in any way, please email me, or forward this email to anyone you think may be able to assist.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Graeme Fisher

Staffordshire Territorial Force Association AD 1910 Drill hall at Tipton West Midlands.

Charlie

Staffordshire Territorial Force Association AD 1910 Drill hall at Tipton West Midlands.

Charlie

[Andrew Upton]

Apologies for not going through 40 pages to see if this might have been covered already, but I've just got back from a weeks holiday in Cornwall, and whilst in Falmouth I spotted a Drill Hall that was being altered/refurbished etc. As part of the work, they seem to have taken down some wooden signage that had been in place for a long time, exposing the original painted naming. I can't recall it exactly off the top of my head (I was sans camera at the time, but took a few shots with my Aunts) but it read something like "HQ 4/6th Bat. DCLI". If these photo's would be of use, let me know and I'll try and get them off my Aunt at the first opportunity (not an easy task as she's not too savvy in that area!).

[rogerpopeye]

Thank you Graeme and Gwyn, Yorkshire looks great and I'm sure I will find somemore, sometime.

[Dragon]

We have uploaded Essex should anyone be interested.

Many thanks to the forum members Andy, Janice, Adrian and Alie who contributed photos and suggestions.

This means that we now have most of the English counties uploaded on a first upload basis and will soon be in a position to address Scotland. We have a lot of photo files and we are looking forward to being able to share them.

Gwyn

[SteveE]

Gwyn/Graeme

Do either of you know if any photographs (contemporary or otherwise) exist for the Drill Halls at 57a Farringdon Road, E.C. and The Armoury, 8 Tufton Street, Westminster?

Although they were, I believe, Drill Halls for the 6th and 2nd Londons respectively both were home to the 25th Royal Fusiliers for a couple of months in 1915. Due to this I would like to obtain images of both these sites if at all possible.

Any help and assistance would be very much appreciated.

Regards

Steve

[Dragon]

Hello Steve

In the version of the database I have, there are pictures of parts of both these drill halls. There is an old photo of men with flags outside the entrance to Tufton street and the notes say that the building is now part of Westminster School. If we can't supply what you need, perhaps the school could despatch a sixth former with a camera to take some photos.

Steve Broomfield offered to take a trip sometime past Tufton street on behalf of the project. It might be worth a PM to him.

We appear to have an entrance and a part of frontage to 57a Farringdon road, plus an extract from The Times, 1888. I don't know the provenance of these pictures.

Graeme may well have something else and I'll draw his attention to your question.

Gwyn

[daggers]

Any chance of Lancashire online before you go North?
Daggers

[Dragon]

We plan to upload all the English counties on a first upload basis before starting on Scotland.

Lancashire is a large county and both of us are under a lot of pressure at the moment. We have a lot of fabulous and rather special material on Lancashire and have been giving some thought on how to use it, as we're required to protect it as far as possible. I also got some good Lancashire entries from The Guardian archives last week.

If there's anything you need, then please ask.

Gwyn

[SteveE]

In the version of the database I have, there are pictures of parts of both these drill halls.

<snip>

Graeme may well have something else and I'll draw his attention to your question.

Gwyn

Many thanks for this, anything that you can supply would be appreciated. I guess I'm really after frontage/entrance shots if nothing else.

We appear to have an entrance and a part of frontage to 57a Farringdon road, plus an extract from The Times, 1888. I don't know the provenance of these pictures.

I had already searched this thread in the hope of finding images, any chance these are the ones supplied by Charles Fair back in 2003 on this thread (Posts #77 to #79) and now apparently no longer available?

Many thanks again.

Steve

[Dragon]

Very likely. Charles has supplied some wonderful London images. Graeme would know. (So would Charles!)

Whatever was in the thread has been downloaded, so nothing is lost.

Gwyn

[rogerpopeye]

Dear Gwyn and Graeme, always interested in any of the counties that you put on the database.

[Dragon]

Thanks for your support, Roger and for the photos you sent today.

I'm not very organised at the moment because a stranger has smashed up my car, and electricians have vandalised my house, and I feel very fragile about it all. But we're pressing on behind the scenes. In my three weeks of enforced house-arrest, I've downloaded some excellent material from The Guardian online, which has given a lot of insights into the role of drill halls from the 1850s onwards. Lots of openings with grand, pompous speeches at the end of the 19c and perfunctory closures in the 1920s. I'll try to put it together in some sort of written piece.

Gwyn

[rogerpopeye]

Birdwell Drill Hall, which is now an hairdressers and beauty shop, and no I didn't call in for a shampoo and set.

[Dragon]

Thanks for the update, Roger and the versions you sent by email. It's good to see the building in use, though I bet the original lads would have goggled at the things we have done to our hair these days, and the cost! Crimson streaks? Blonde stripes? Jagged bits? What???? (Your car, is it?)

Gwyn

[rogerpopeye]

Don't I wish, mine was parked on the main road 3 cars to the right hehe trying to hide the dirt from you

[Graeme Fisher]

Gwyn

Many thanks for this, anything that you can supply would be appreciated. I guess I'm really after frontage/entrance shots if nothing else.



I had already searched this thread in the hope of finding images, any chance these are the ones supplied by Charles Fair back in 2003 on this thread (Posts #77 to #79) and now apparently no longer available?

Many thanks again.

Steve

Steve
Here's a couple of my pics of Farringdon road

Attached File(s)

 1303_finsbury.jpg ( 76.79K ) Number of downloads: 0

 

[Ghost]

"The Motor Section of the Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion in a display at the rear of the Bridge Hotel, Huntingdon.
This hotel was used by the officers of the H C B as it was only a short distance from their Head quarters in St. Mary's Street."

From the hunts cyclist site.

Alan

[Dragon]

Thank you, Alan. That has reminded me that there's a gap which we need to fill in on the website, so we'll make a note of your information. I'll go and look at the site you mention.

Cheers

Gwyn

[SteveE]

Here's a couple of my pics of Farringdon road

Graeme

Many thanks for your help and assistance, I've pm'd you.

Regards

Steve

[rogerpopeye]

Good evening Graeme and Gwyn,

I hope everything is going well with you.

Morley (West Yorkshire) drill hall that i photoed for you some time ago, one of the companies in there an animal feed merchant as gone into administration over the last 3 weeks, so i will keep an eye on the situation there.

Cheers Roger.

[Dragon]

Thanks to our Yorkshire Correspondent. I'm sorry for the people whose jobs will be affected.

Gwyn

[Rab]

link