Infant Police Box destroyed..... Daily Mirror (05-Aug-1937)

Started by petewilson, Mar 11, 2014, 05:39 pm

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petewilson

Another interesting article from the pages of The Daily Mirror dated 5th August 1937 about this Young Box that was run down in it's prime!!!

Daily Mirror (05-08-1937).jpg

banzai, do you know what box this was (as I can't see it in the Met List)? I think it was replaced by a Police Post (which is unusual for a location outside Central London).

Also it looks like a Wooden Box due to the sheer damage caused!

Pete


Coming Soon....The Box that Never Was!!

hb88banzai

Very cool, and very tragic.

Wow, must have been quite a palpable hit.

It's R10 on Plumstead Road opposite the now non-existent Perrot Street (the box now nameable as the Woolwich Arsenal Middle Gate Box). And no, it's a concrete box both by location and details in the photo (you can see concrete type edges at the break in the middle of the wall with what looks like rebar continuing beyond the break - other chunks of concrete are laying about as well).

Here's a blowup --

Daily Mirror (05-08-1937)--R10--Blowup.JPG

It was just short of being three years old at this point, poor thing. Another dead Mark 2. A testament to the strength of the box that the two police officers were only injured instead of killed outright.

Here's an approximate current streetview of the location from the Metlist Description (haven't checked the OS Maps on it yet) --

Woolwich_Arsenal_Middle_Gate_Box-R10-ApproxSiteStreetview.JPG

The original Royal Arsenal's Middle Gate is partially visible on the left, with the old Middle Gate House visible behind the wall.

Approximate street view URL: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Plumstead+Road,+Woolwich,+London,+United+Kingdom&hl=en&ll=51.491076,0.077199&spn=0.000013,0.008776&sll=51.467697,-0.005493&sspn=0.489347,1.087646&hnear=Plumstead+Rd,+London,+United+Kingdom&t=m&layer=c&cbll=51.491076,0.077199&panoid=J75TfCXDud0IFYXIeXLJ5w&cbp=12,355.93,,0,-0.31&z=17

petewilson

I'm surprised the two policeman survived (if they were BOTH inside!?) Looking at the state of the aftermath...
Anyway what makes me think it was replaced by a boring Post was this photo taken in 1960 (It is the same place isn't it?)


Entrance Woolwich Arsenal 1960.jpg

Dalekoracle

The photo shows Beresford Square, Pete.


https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.491205,0.069414,3a,75y,19.33h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sd2HLq8LuyVClNum1rQQuUw!2e0


Banzai 's location map shows Plumstead Road, about half a mile to the East.

The article is fascinating!

Mark

hb88banzai

Pete, as Dalekoracle noted, your last photo is of R38, the Police Post at Beresford Square in front of the Main Gates to the Royal Arsenal (not the Middle Gate). The roadway becomes Plumstead Road just to the east, but west of the Main Gate it was Beresford Street.

No indication in the Met List that R38 has been anything other than a Post, nor that R10 at the Middle Gate was anything other than a Box.


petewilson

Too many gates there!! 
It's good to know that R10 was replaced and stood there for another 30 years or so though!

Pete

hb88banzai

Well, the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich was HUGE!

It's interesting that all the OS Maps show it as basically a blank area on the map until the 1970s. It was so crucial as a strategic asset that all maps of it were essentially redacted.