Beckenham and Bromley National Trust

10:39am Tuesday 10th June 2008

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BRIAN Bloice gave an illustrated talk in the Great Hall of the Civic Centre last month called After the Great Exhibition.

The international exhibition held in Hyde Park was intended to cover the "works and industry of all nations" but in reality symbolised the industrial supremacy of Britain in the mid- Victorian age.

Prince Albert helped to organise the exhibition for which the Crystal Palace was constructed.

Such was the financial success of the exhibition the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Albert Hall were built out of the proceeds.

There was immense enthusiasm for repeating this success and in the following 10 years there were four attempts which were not so successful.

By 1862 it was decided the exhibitions needed a permanent home and the magnificent Alexandra Palace was built, but in 1873 a large section was burnt down and a new wing had to be built in 1875.

Exhibitions were held at weekends but the enterprise was not a financial success and the building was let out to the Muswell Hill Golf Course for instance, then to a consortium of LEAs, to the BBC and the GLC. Part of it was used as a skating rink.

The Earl's Court exhibition centre was completed in 1887 and became an outing at the weekend for the whole family - the Big Wheel was added in 1895 and the Flying Machine in 1904.

At the beginning of the 20th Century the White City had taken shape - a group of exotic buildings covered in white stucco to house exhibitions from around the world, one a year until the First World War.

A fleeting mention was made of the Dome as the most recent of our exhibition experiments.

The next meeting will be held in the Great Hall of the Civic Centre at 8pm tonight with a talk by John Wittich who conducts walking tours on the curiosities of London.

Everyone is welcome. There is wheelchair access and an audio-loop.

For more information about membership, call 0208 658 4338 or visit ntbbcentre.freeuk.com