Great War truck Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 As you know i am an obsessive postcard collector. Not so long ago i came across this postcard of Alphington Street in Exeter. Nothing special you may say. Well the fourth from the left of the row of Georgian Houses was my first property (well actually the top floor was my flat) Still bored i hear you groan? Well, the view is a bit different today. The first two Georgian houses are long gone, and the building in front of those (on the very left) was until recently a dilapidated pile of rubble. When i told my collegues at work of my purchase they were both suprised and amused. I must admit when i bought the property i was always a bit confused as to why the walls were leaning at funny angles. One door was flush with the floor to the left, but to the right there was a gap of about 5 inches. Thinking no more about and as the surveyors report said nothing (it really did say nothing - but cost me £300) i was not put off. What actually happened was the property was hit in the Baedecker raid of Exeter and all the buildings to the left were flattened. The houses were never rebuilt and the corner shop (and garage behind it) were left as rubble. This rubble has since been cleared and a new block of flats built. Once i had moved in i was hit with constant large repair bills and then extreme negative equity until the flat was worth about 40% of my original purhcase price. On a happier note i rented it out for 10 years and sold it a couple of years ago and made a little profit. Although i could still blame the Nazi war machine for stuffing me financially for 10 years of my life, at least i was not living in numbers 6 and 7 when the bombs dropped. There you go. Every photo tells a story. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rlangham Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I think i'm turning into a WW1 postcard collector too - bought a WW1 Zeppelin postcard off ebay the other day, purchased a 'stereoview' postcard of a Whippet today and always on the lookout for more. Most people here probably know my current house - ex-RAF Hendon Aerodrome Hotel/Officers Mess, built in 1917 and now rather shoddy student accomodation, and it's always interesting to see the place on an old aerial view of RAFM Hendon, or better yet, on this video of a DH Moth, right at the start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abn deuce Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 Nice you have a historical record of the property even if it was only a backdrop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 Great story, thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted April 10, 2008 Author Share Posted April 10, 2008 I think i'm turning into a WW1 postcard collector too - bought a WW1 Zeppelin postcard off ebay the other day, purchased a 'stereoview' postcard of a Whippet today and always on the lookout for more. Most people here probably know my current house - ex-RAF Hendon Aerodrome Hotel/Officers Mess, built in 1917 and now rather shoddy student accomodation, and it's always interesting to see the place on an old aerial view of RAFM Hendon, or better yet, on this video of a DH Moth, right at the start! Oh yes, i forgot you lived there. Did you know at the end of WW1, Hendon aerodrome was partly taken over by Packard for ex WD truck rebuilds. I have a period photo somewhere which will interest you. Will have a look for it. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rlangham Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Looking forward to seeing it. Didn't know that, i've found out all sorts about this place's history, including that after WWI, Claude Grahame White who set up his factory here, made quite a bit of a business converting Rolls Royce armoured cars back into luxury cars. Talking to the chap dressed as an RFC pilot on Sunday, it turns out there's more of the WWI era factory buildings on the police college site, so i'll have to have a wander up the road with my camera, and try and not get arrested for acting suspiciously! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted April 11, 2008 Author Share Posted April 11, 2008 Here it is. Packards being rebuilt in one of the hangars. I dont think the insides have changed very much in all that time. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rlangham Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Think they might have - that hangar is long gone! It looks like a triple bay hangar, and the surviving ones at Hendon are double bays - haven't actually seen any photos of a triple bay hangar at Hendon, but it was a very very big site. Nice photo though, i'll try and find a photo of a triple bay hangar (that could be one of the Grahame-White hangars, and there's a large drawing of most of the site in the Grahame-White factory hangar) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 This is good stuff. I've recently discovered my home street in Westcliff was damaged during a Zep raid in 1915. There is a local expert who can probably fill me in and he is a member of my local WFA. I am a member, too, but something makes me keep it at arms length a little. I have never been one for clubs etc. My first proper home in norf London, in Stoke Newington, was built in 1767 and had been a meeting place for the prominent anti-slavers. Needless to say the Luftwaffe found it and blew the top floor and the facade off. The area had a large-ish Jewish community at the time and presumably they were being fairly indiscriminate. One night my mother and her sister left a shelter in Stoke Newington High St because it was too crowded. A bomb cut the gas and water main, flooding it, causing the highest single loss of life after the Bethnal Green disaster of 1943. The same night my mother saw a policeman get decapitated as she made her way to another shelter. My grandfather, who was killed at sea in 1941, was nearly killed on home leave by a bomb which landed in Abney park cemetery in Stoke Newington. A huge chunk of grave stone crashed through the balcony window where he had just been standing watching the raid. It was kept for years and had part of had an inscription on it. My gran used it as a door stop. MB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rlangham Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Do you know what Zep raid it was, Snapper? Since moving to London i've developed a large interest in Zeppelin/Gotha/Zeppelin Staaken (giant bombers) raids on London and the UK as a whole - in the past two days alone i've bought another book, a 1/72 scale Gotha bomber, a cartoon postcard and a genuine 1916 newspaper featuring the Zeppelin that was brought down over Potters Bar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willyslancs Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 (edited) Love the old pics , (dad been collector for years ) anyone got any of Blackpool(airport , old Blackpool)Dad told me years ago about the first world war tank burried here, any one pics of it? theres at least one post card of it out side Blackpool town hall,which was issued a long time ago. Edited October 9, 2008 by Willyslancs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.