The Postcard
A Kromo Series postcard published by B & D of London E.C. The stamp has been removed, along with the date of posting.
The card was posted to:
Miss S. Rogers,
24 Pratt Street,
Lambeth,
London S.E.
Pratt Street has since been renamed Pratt Walk.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Dear Sylvia,
Thanks for your postcard.
There is not much more
of our holidays left.
Haven't they gone quickly?
Love from Mabel".
Battersea Park
Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea, and was opened in 1858.
The park occupies marshland reclaimed from the Thames as well as land formerly used for market gardens.
The park is Grade II* listed.
The Early Years of the Park
Prior to 1846 the area now covered by the park was known as Battersea fields, a popular spot for duelling. On the 21st. March 1829, the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Winchelsea met on Battersea fields to settle a matter of honour. When it came time to fire, the Duke aimed his duelling pistol wide and Winchelsea fired his into the air. Winchelsea later wrote the Duke a groveling apology.
Separated from the river by a narrow raised causeway, the fields consisted of low, fertile marshes intersected by streams and ditches, with the chief crops being carrots, melons, lavender (all the way up to Lavender Hill) and the famous ‘Battersea Bunches’ of asparagus.
Running along the riverside from the fields were industrial concerns and wharves, including a pottery, copper works, lime kiln, chemical works, and, increasingly, railways. The site of Battersea Power Station was partly occupied by the famously bawdy Red House Tavern, patronised by Charles Dickens.
In 1845, spurred partly by the local vicar and partly by Thomas Cubitt, the builder and developer, whose yards were across the river in the still marshy and undeveloped area of Pimlico, a bill was submitted to Parliament to form a royal park of 320 acres.
The Act was passed in 1846, and £200,000 was promised for the purchase of the land. The Commission for Improving the Metropolis acquired 320 acres of Battersea Fields, of which 198 acres became Battersea Park, opened in 1858, and the remainder was let on building leases.
The park was laid out by Sir James Pennethorne between 1846 and 1864, although the park which was opened in 1858 varied somewhat from Pennethorne's original vision.
The park’s success depended on the successful completion of the Chelsea Bridge, declared open in 1858 by Queen Victoria. In her honour, the road alongside the eastern edge of the Park was called Victoria Road, linked to Queen's Road by Victoria Circus (now Queen's Circus).
Prince of Wales Road (now Prince of Wales Drive) was laid out along the southern boundary, and Albert Bridge Road constructed along the western side. The park came under the management of the newly formed London County Council in 1889.
The park hosted the first football game played under the rules of the recently formed Football Association on the 9th. January 1864. The members of the teams were chosen by the President of the FA (A. Pember) and the Secretary (E.C. Morley), and included many well-known footballers of the day.
From the 1860's, the park was home to the leading amateur football team Wanderers F.C., winners of the first FA Cup, in 1872. One team they are known to have played at the park was Sheffield F.C., the world's oldest football team, in the 1860's.
The Later Years of Battersea Park
In 1924, the 24th East Surrey Division War Memorial by Eric Kennington was unveiled by Field Marshal Lord Plumer and the Anglican Bishop of Southwark Cyril Garbett. It commemorates the over 10,000 men killed or listed as "missing presumed dead" whilst serving with the 24th. East Surrey Division. The memorial is now Grade II* listed.
During both wars, anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons were installed in the park to help protect London from enemy air raids. Shelters were dug, part of the park was turned over to allotments for much needed vegetables, and a pig farm was also set up. Maintenance of the park was reduced as the war effort took priority.
In 1951 the northern parts of the park were transformed into the "Pleasure Gardens" as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations. As well as a new water-garden and fountains, new features included a "Tree-Walk", which consisted of a series of raised wooden walkways linked by tree house-like platforms suspended between the branches of a number of trees.
Popular attractions included the Guinness Clock, designed by Jan Le Witt and George Him, and the Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway.
Battersea Funfair
Another part of the transformation was the addition in 1951 of Battersea Funfair, with roller coasters, swings, roundabouts and other attractions.
The funfair's most spectacular ride was a roller coaster called The Big Dipper, which opened in 1951. It was of wooden construction, and suffered a major fire in 1970.
It was closed after five children were killed and 13 injured in an accident on the 30th. May 1972 when one of the trains broke loose from its haulage rope, rolling backwards, the emergency rollback brake having failed.
Despite the efforts of the brakeman, the train gathered speed, and the back carriage jumped the rails and crashed through a barrier, with the other two carriages crashing on top of it.
It was the worst accident in the history of theme parks. In the subsequent inquiry, prosecutors described the ride as a 'death trap', citing dozens of flaws and safety concerns.
The Independent newspaper published a story in 2015 recalling the accident, prompted by an accident at Alton Towers in which 16 people were injured, four seriously. Recalling the 1972 accident, Carolyn Adamczyk, a passenger on the ride during the accident, said:
"As soon as we started shooting backwards,
everything went into slow motion... I turned
around and saw the brake man desperately
trying to put the brake on, but it wasn’t working.
Most of the carriages didn’t go around the bend,
one detached and went off the side through a
wooden hoarding. People were groaning and
hanging over the edge. It was awful."
In April 2022 BBC News published a video article about survivors of the disaster campaigning for a permanent memorial. The footage includes the rollercoaster in operation as well as modern views of the site where it stood, and mentions a theory that the wood from the demolished coaster is buried under Battersea Park.
Three men were charged with manslaughter, and a committal hearing was started at Wandsworth Magistrates' Court on the 26th. February 1973. The court heard that, after a fire had damaged the ride in 1970, second-hand stock, more than fifty years old, had been bought to replace it.
The brake on the replacement train had not operated when the rope broke, allowing it to run backwards. Additionally, the structure, including the pedestrian emergency walkway, was in a rotted and unsafe condition so that one victim who survived the initial impact fell through the handrail to her death.
The manager of the ride and its inspecting engineer were committed for trial, and after a lengthy hearing at the Old Bailey, on the 20th. November 1973 both men were acquitted.
After the accident, the roller coaster was closed and dismantled. With the funfair's lack of a main attraction its use soon declined, leading to its closure in 1974. Very little remains now to even suggest that a funfair once stood on the site.
Other Features of Battersea Park
The site of the fun fair was levelled and became a site for travelling fairs and exhibitions, and is the site of Battersea Evolution, formerly the Battersea Park Events Arena, which hosts exhibitions, conferences and Christmas parties.
The park is home to a small children's zoo, a boating lake, a bandstand, and all-weather outdoor sporting facilities including tennis courts, a running track and football pitches. Four West London hockey teams use the all-weather Astroturf pitches.
In the centre of the park is Pump House Gallery, which is housed in a four-story grade I listed Victorian tower. It is owned by Wandsworth Council.
On the western side there are two cricket pitches, home to the King's Road Cricket & Social Club. The club, whose members wear distinctive orange caps, can be seen playing on Saturdays and Sundays.
The park is the site of the London Peace Pagoda, erected in 1985. A Buddhist monk looks after the pagoda on a daily basis.
A replica of the bronze statue of a dog that was the focal point of the historic vivisection-related Brown Dog affair was erected here in 1985. It was moved in 1994 to the Woodland Walk, near the Old English Garden.
In 2002 to 2004 the park underwent a £11 million refurbishment funded in part by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and was re-opened on the 2nd. June 2004 by Prince Philip.
In 2007, a Dog Walk of Fame was inaugurated in the park.
In 2011, a sculpture commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, 'After 9/11', was unveiled by the then-Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.
A narrow strip along the eastern edge of the park and two smaller nearby areas have been designated the Battersea Park Nature Areas Local Nature Reserve, with an area of three hectares. They have a variety of woodland bird species, including blackcap and bullfinch. There are 20 species of butterfly and several of stag beetle.
Battersea Park in the Media
The park featured in Petula Clark's 1954 single "Meet Me In Battersea Park", co-authored by Clark's father, Leslie, and her accompanist, Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson and David Valentine (the pen name of David Lavender). It was the title of a 2001 boxed set focusing on this early part of Petula's career.
The park featured in the 1960's films "Gorgo", "The Wrong Arm of the Law" and "The Day the Earth Caught Fire", and in a 1991 episode of Mr. Bean entitled "Mr Bean Goes to Town". Also, Jim Henson's company filmed the musical number "Couldn't We Ride?" for "The Great Muppet Caper" at the park; it was there that the movie began filming in September 1980.
The cafe and bandstand featured in several scenes shot for the 1998 British comedy "Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence".
The first 50 seconds of the video for One Direction's single "One Thing" were filmed in the former Festival Gardens area of the park.
