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The 1910 London to Manchester air race took place between two aviators, each of whom attempted to win a heavier-than-air powered flight challenge between London and Manchester first proposed by the Daily Mail newspaper in 1906. The £10,000 prize was won in April 1910 by Frenchman Louis Paulhan.
The first to make the attempt was Claude Grahame-White, an Englishman from Hampshire. He took off from London on 23 April 1910, and made his first planned stop at Rugby. His biplane subsequently suffered engine problems, forcing him to land again, near Lichfield. High winds made it impossible for Grahame-White to continue his journey, and his aeroplane suffered further damage on the ground when it was blown over.
While Grahame-White's aeroplane was being repaired in London, late on 27 April Paulhan took off, heading for Lichfield. A few hours later Grahame-White was made aware of Paulhan's departure, and immediately set off in pursuit. The next morning, after an unprecedented night-time take-off, he almost caught up with Paulhan, but his aeroplane was overweight and he was forced to concede defeat. Paulhan reached Manchester early on 28 April, winning the challenge. Both aviators celebrated his victory at a special luncheon held at the Savoy Hotel in London.
The event marked the first long-distance aeroplane race in England, the first take-off of a heavier-than-air machine at night, and the first powered flight into Manchester from outside the city. Paulhan repeated the journey in April 1950, the fortieth anniversary of the original flight, this time as a passenger aboard a British jet fighter. (Full article...)
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Selected biography
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George Shillibeer (11 August 1797–21 August 1866) was an English coachbuilder and operator of the first omnibus service in London from 1829.
Shillibeer was born in St Marylebone, London, the son of Abraham and Elizabeth Shillibeer. Christened in St Marys Church, St Marylebone on 22 October 1797, Shillibeer worked for the coach company Hatchetts in Long Acre, the coach-building district of the capital. In the 1820s he was offered work in Paris, France where he was commissioned to build some unusually large horse-drawn coaches of "novel design". The aim was to design a coach capable of transporting a whole group of people, perhaps two dozen, at a time.
Shillibeer's design worked, and was very stable. It was introduced into the streets of Paris in 1827 and Shillibeer concluded that operating similar vehicles in London, but for the fare-paying public with multiple stops, would be a paying enterprise, so he returned to his native city. His first London "Omnibus" began service on 4 July 1829 on a route between Paddington (The Yorkshire Stingo) and "Bank" (Bank of England) via the "New Road" (now Marylebone Rd), Somers Town and City Rd. Four services were provided in each direction daily. (Full article...)
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- ...that sculptor Henry Moore's first public commission in 1928-29 was a relief sculpture West Wind for the Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway?
- ...that at 44 tons, the locomotives of the Central London Railway's first underground trains were so heavy that they shook buildings as they passed 60 feet below and were scrapped after three years?
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Image 1Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
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Image 4Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 6Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
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Image 7The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 9Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 10View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
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Image 12Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 13Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
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Image 14The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
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Image 15Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 18Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
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Image 20Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 21The newly constructed junction of the Westway ( A40) and the West Cross Route ( A3220) at White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 22Sailing ships at West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the Canary Wharf development.
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Image 24Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
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Image 25Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
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Image 26Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 27Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 29The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
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Image 30Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 32Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
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Image 33The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
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Image 34Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
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Image 36The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
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Image 37The multi-level junction between the M23 and M25 motorways near Merstham in Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 38"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 39TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
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Image 40London General Omnibus Company B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during World War I, this vehicle was operated on the Western Front.
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Image 41Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
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Image 42Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
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Image 43Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 44A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 4555 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
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Image 46Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
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Image 47London Underground A60 Stock (left) and 1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 48London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 49Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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