London - The Great White City - Elite Gardens and Flip-Flap

            The Postcard

A postally unused postcard that was published by Valentine & Sons Ltd. of Dundee, London and New York. The card has a divided back.

The Great White City

The area now called White City was level arable farmland until 1908, when it was used as the site of the Franco-British Exhibition and the 1908 Summer Olympics. 

In 1909 the exhibition site hosted the Imperial International Exhibition and in 1910, the Japan-British Exhibition.

The Coronation Exhibition of 1911 was held in order to celebrate the coronation of King George V and Mary of Teck on the 22nd. June 1911.

The final two exhibitions to be held there were the Latin-British Exhibition (1912) and the Anglo-American Exhibition (1914), which was brought to a premature end by the outbreak of the First World War. 

During this period it was known as the Great White City due to the white marble cladding used on the exhibition pavilions, and hence gave its name to this part of Shepherd's Bush.

The White City Stadium

The White City Stadium in the north of the area, known as the Great Stadium and seating 66,000, was officially opened by King Edward VII on the 27th. April 1908 for the Olympics. 

After the Olympics, it continued to be used for athletics until 1914, and was later turned into a greyhound racing track, although it was also used for short periods by Queens Park Rangers football club, and for other sports. 

In 1931, a 440-yard running track was installed for the Amateur Athletic Association Championships, held there from 1932 to 1970. 

In 1934, American rodeo promoter Tex Austin staged the World's Championship Rodeo at White City Stadium. Champion cowboys and cowgirls from Canada and the United States participated. The world's most famous rodeo bucking horse, Midnight, was brought out of retirement for one last rodeo. The month-long rodeo was held from the 9th. June to the 6th. July with ten shows per week. British Pathe filmed some of the events.

The Stadium was home to the White City Rebels Speedway team, part of the inaugural British League in 1929 and from 1976 to 1978. Speedway was run first in 1928 and occasional meetings were run from 1953 to 1958, 1961 and 1979 to 1983.

The stadium was demolished in 1985 to make way for the BBC White City building. Today, the 1908 Olympics are commemorated with a list of athletes inscribed on the side of the BBC Broadcast Centre Building, and the athletics finish line is marked in the paving outside the building.

The Marathon from these London Olympics played an important part in the development of the modern marathon race. In the early years of competitive international sport, the long-distance marathon race did not have a standard set distance. 

The distance run at the first seven Olympics from 1896 to 1920 varied between 40 and 42.75 km (24.85 and 26.56 mi). The starting point of the race at the 1908 Olympics was at Windsor Castle, creating a distance of 42.195 km (26.219 mi) or 26 miles 385 yards to the finishing line at White City stadium. In 1921 this was adopted as the standard distance for all future marathons.

Taken on: April 5, 2021

Tags:

postcard

old

nostalgia

nostalgic

London

Great

White

City

Elite

Gardens

Flip

Flap

arable

farmland

1908

Franco

British

Exhibition

Summer

Olympics

1909

stadium

35LTG52 « less

Sets appears in: • Bandstands • Exhibitions more » • London « less

Groups appears in: • my city

Stats: 605 views