GLIAS

GREATER LONDON INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY

Home | Membership | News | Diary | Walks | Calvocoressi Fund | Books | Journals | Links | Database | e-papers | About us

Book reviews — January 1974

Goodbye London, Christopher Booker & Candida Lycett Green
Fontana p/b, 1973, 80p
160 pages and many illustrations showing buildings and streets in Central London which are in varying degrees subjects of development plans — visual shock tactics, with site-depicting maps to show just how much is planned. The text is limited to brief sue... descriptions, known plans and names of developers and designers. Most emphasis is on housing, but numerous industrial sites figure: railway stations, factories, workshops, shops, cinemas — even Earl's Court and White City stadia!

Fire Marks, John Vince
Shire Publications p/b, 1973, 80p
Into 32 pages are packed 188 small photos of U.K. fire insurance marks, with brief notes on companies, dates and derivation, plus a list of companies, dates established and details of materials used for the marks. Thus we read (and see) no.150 is of the Berkshire, Gloucestershire and Provincial Life & Fire Insurance Co. of 1824-31, depicting Reading Castle (now demolished). The background introduction is necessarily, though regrettably, short. A few notes on expansion of the major U.K. companies overseas would have been useful — but this is really asking for too much at the low price. A very good buy for anyone even remotely interested in this fascinating aspect of street furniture.

(Also available in the same series: Vintage Farm Machines and Canals & Canal Architecture.) David Thomas

A Gazetteer of Hampshire Breweries, M.F. Tighe
28pp + ill, obtainable from Dr E. Course, Dept. of Extra-Mural Studies, Southampton University, Southampton SO9 5NH, 1973, 80p post free
This gazetteer is the outcome of a survey by Southampton University I.A.. Group and lists 63 surviving sites in the county. Only four breweries were still in operation at the end of 1970. This nicely produced booklet might inspire someone to do the same for London's breweries.

An Illustrated Directory Of Old Carshalton, A.E. Jones
Obtainable from author at 37 Ashcombe Road, Carshalton, Surrey, n.d., £1.50 post free
This 233 page paperback volume is very good value having regard to publishing costs today. There is plenty to interest the industrial archaeologist as well as the local historian and any number of passing references to industry that someone ought to follow up.

East London Papers, Volume 15 (final issue), ed. J.L. Bolton
Obtainable from Editor at Queen Mary College, Mile End Road, E1 4NS, 1973, £2
It is sad to report the publication of this last volume of a journal that set high standards of contribution and production. There will be a gap in its passing. The final volume contains a long review of the Dockland Study Report by various authors; photographic and personal memories of East London past and present; a reprise of 'East London Papers' 1958-73 by Professor H.J. Dyos and numerous reviews. It is some consolation that back numbers are still available (cost on application to the Editor); recommended papers are 'Docks on the North Bank' by J.L. Howgego, in Vol.10 no.2 (a valuable documentary and historical study) and 'The Industrial Archaeology of the Lower Lea Valley' by Denis Smith (GLIAS), in Vol.12 no.2.

The Archaeology Of The Industrial Revolution, Brian Bracegirdle et al
208pp + 48pp colour ill, Hememann Educational Books, 1973, £6.50
The fourth (and costliest to date) general book on Britain's industrial archaeology, this is worth having for the illustrations alone, which capture the splendid qualities of so many industrial monuments. But don't ignore the text, which is written by authorities including L.T.C. Rolt, Charles E. Lee, Rex Wailes, W.K.V. Gale and Jennifer Tann.

From Sand-Core to Automation: A History of Glass Containers, Victor Wyatt
24pp, obtainable from Information Dept., Glass Manufacturers Federation, 19 Portland Place, WI, 1972, 25p inc postage
An attractive and informative general account of the glass container from the earliest times to the present. A useful primer.

Industrial Archaeology In Enfield, Enfield Archaeological Society
Obtainable from Miss J. Green, 24 Lynmouth Avenue, Bush Hill Park, Enfield, 1973, 55p post free
A reprint of the booklet first published in 1971, describing many of the industrial monuments in Enfield.

An Introduction to Surveying, Michael Bussell
8pp, obtainable from author at address below, 1973, 12p post free
Offprint of two articles that first appeared in the 'London Archaeologist', describing basic principles of surveying applicable to sites, excavations, buildings and machinery.

The Industrial Archaeology of Erith & Belvedere — Report of a symposium held on May 19th, 1973, Peter Barnes
Obtainable from him at Briarcroft, Howbury Lane, Slade Green, Erith, 1973, 10p post free
Account of contributions by speakers including Paul Carter and John Smith (GLIAS) and subsequent discussion on the future of Crossness.

The Nature of The Horsham (Flint) Industry And Its Place Within The British Mesolithic, A.G. Woodcock
Obtainable from Chichester City Museum, 29 Little London, Chichester, n.d., 20p post free
Valid I.A. for those who accept that it embraces ancient flint-knapping — and many do. This is the first paper of a series and information on future titles can be obtained from the Curator.

A Paper Worth Reading
Those with access to a good-sized library are recommended to the journal 'Antiquity' for September 1973.' It includes a paper by Philip Riden (Post-post-medieval archaeology, pp 210-6), which contains an attempted redefinition of the standards required for archaeological work in the post-post-medieval period, accompanied by a critical assessment of some of what is actually being done. Described in the (American) Society for Industrial Archaeology Newsletter as 'a somewhat depressed, cynical review', nevertheless the paper is thought-provoking and may help each of us to crystallise our ideas on what we are doing — and why we do it.


© GLIAS, 1974