History Shorts: snippets of local history

The former Bank of Ireland building at the corner of Belfast's Royal Avenue and North Street has been called one of the finest Modernist buildings in Ireland. Finished in what was presumably once bright white Portland limestone, this Art Deco wonder was built from 1928-1930 and was Grade B+ listed in 1990. It was designed by the architect Joseph Vincent Downes for the Dublin-based firm of McDonnell & Dixon, a practice responsible for many bank and office buildings of different styles in Ireland from the 1900s and which is still in business today! Despite its status, and like so many of the buildings on nearby North Street, the Bank of Ireland building in Belfast seemed destined to fall into a state of disrepair after its closure in 2005.  Thankfully it seems like the bank is to get a new lease of life as part of a significant new tourism and cultural regeneration investment by none other than Belfast City Council. I, for one, will be keen to visit when it opens again in 2028!

Is this a surprising change of use for a Victorian building? An insight into how Oxford once managed its water supplies... View this post on Instagram The South Oxford community centre in Lake Street, #Oxford was originally built in 1856 as a pumping station for the city waterworks. Water was pumped from the neighbouring Hinksey reservoir, itself only formed in 1850 as a result of gravel extraction for an extension of the railway from Oxford to Banbury. The waterworks were in operation until 1934. Its cooling lake is now the boating lake in Hinksey park and filter beds were converted to swimming pools. #history #urbanhistory #Victorian #architecture A post shared by bishib70 (@landscapeandhistory) on Oct 14, 2019 at 12:48pm PDT Lake Street front: See the OS 25 inch map of the area from 1898.

I recently enjoyed a tour of the former Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast so was interested to see the following sketches from Sir Charles Lanyon when they appeared among recent Flickr uploads from PRONI. The prison opened in 1846 and only closed in 1996, having fallen into considerable disrepair. The building, which has 'accommodated' in one form or another some of Ireland's most famous politicians, now has Grade A listed status. Here's one of my own photos from the yard just before a cloud burst! Hopefully I'll sort out some more soon, including from inside the tunnel: See more about the gaol, including details of tours

Seventy-five years have now passed since the publication of a little guide book entitled Walks Around London , written and illustrated by Joan Bloxam [Joan Mary Bloxam, 1884-1948] and published by the Athenaeum Press. My 1936 first edition was possibly bought by an A Groves in 1937, judging by the signature on the inside cover. As a guide book, this edition of Walks Around London is no longer particularly useful: pre-World War II and a transformation in commerce and transport, the London it describes is radically different from that swarming with tourists and shoppers today. But it is a quaint delight, punctuated with lovely little illustrations and a sense of the more simple pleasures in life, with no foreboding of the dark days that would visit the city in only a few short years. The introduction by Howard Marshall observes, "Her charming sketches will remind us happily, in days to come, of London as we knew it before the town planners set to work. It may even rouse Londo

Inside the tiny church , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. This is my favourite image of my photographs of the delightful model village of Bourton-on-the-water, which has been given Grade II listed status by English Heritage . The detail of the tiny stained glass windows in the church of St Lawrence is exquisite!

Winchester Cathedral , a set on Flickr. A new Winchester Cathedral, replacing the Saxon Old Minster, was consecrated on April 8 1093, the project of the Norman bishop Walkelin. Much of the Norman building survives within the massive present day structure, including the crypt and transepts. It remains the seat of the Bishop of Winchester today.

According to Wikipedia, this is a Palladian villa built in the 1750s-60s for Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt, a British diplomat and general, with grounds later landscaped by Capability Brown. The old village of Nuneham Courtenay was uprooted to make way for the house and grounds and was recreated a mile away on the Oxford to Dorchester road (now the A4074). Destruction of the old village has been linked to the Deserted Village, in the poem of that name by Oliver Goldsmith. During World War II, it was used by the RAF, home to a photographic reconnaissance interpretation unit. It is now owned by Oxford University (their Harcourt Arboretum is also nearby) and the building used as a retreat centre.

Titanic Belfast visit , a set on Flickr. I was able to fit in a visit to the Titanic Belfast building recently and was very impressed with the experience. On the plus sides, it focuses quite heavily on the industrial history of Belfast and Northern Ireland to good effect (such as the Shipyard Ride), the cabin recreations are fascinating, the building itself is of course striking and the public spaces around have been landscaped in an interesting manner. The gift shop, perhaps not surprisingly, falls a little on the side of bad taste - after all, this was a shipping disaster, not really a reason for keyrings and chocolates! However, such a modern tourist facility does need to turn a profit so it's hardly surprising to see a range of tie-in tat on offer. All in all we probably spent almost 4 hours touring the exhibition - it's very in-depth and was also very busy, good to see for business but it made some of the areas quite claustroph