Open House 2024 (4): Kirkaldy's Testing Works

99 SOUTHWARK STREET, SE1 0JF

Open House Website says;

Proudly carved over the door are the words ‘Facts not Opinions’. Inside, the authentic sight - and smell - of Kirkaldy’s Testing and Experimenting Works is a unique and direct link with an ingenious age of engineering.

I’ve long wanted to visit this unique bit of Victorian engineering heritage in Southwark but never managed to align available time and their opening days. The works own website at https://www.testingworks.org.uk/about gives the whole story of David Kirkaldy and his pioneering work of testing structural materials in a standardised and scientific way. The works remained in his family until 1965 and continued to operate under new ownership until 1974. A museum trust was set up in 1983 to retire and maintain the machines and the works and in 2014 the works and the huge Universal Testing Machine are listed at Grade II*.

 

Stepping through the front door of the Victorian building you are confronted by the almost 50 foot long Universal Testing Machine which dominates the room. Using water hydraulic pressure and a mechanical linkage the machine can exert a load of 440 tons on the material to be tested and it’s big enough to test large building components. There are numerous examples of iron, steel. and other material test pieces displayed that have been tested to breaking point. The museum volunteers are happy to explain how the beast functions, the history of the works, and what they’ve needed to do to restore the machine to working order. 

 

 As well as the Universal Testing Machine the museum has a collection of other testing machines of varying vintages - nearly all of which are old enough to be pre-metric so visiting students first need to be introduced to pounds, inches, and pounds per square inch and the conversion factors to change them into the SI units they’re more familiar with. There are machines to test seemingly everything from the tensile strength of parachute cord and webbing to the hardness of stone samples.

 

It’s a very un-museum-like space, very much a works building and since this is filled with old oily machinery from a time when mechanism guards were not considered necessary and which was operated by people who knew what they were doing you are reminded to watch where you’re putting your fingers 😀 

It’s a fascinating place, particularly if you are interested in machines, run by very nice people and I really need to get back on one of the premium tours when they actually run the machine and break stuff!

There are more photos in my Open House 2024 Flickr Album.

More info including opening times on the Kirkaldy’s Testing Works website 

 

 

 

Open House 2024 (3): The Victorian Society

 

1 PRIORY GARDENS, BEDFORD PARK, CHISWICK , W4 1TT

Open House web site says:

 Part of the original Bedford Park development restored by the Victorian Society and used as their headquarters since the 1970s. Picturesque style; 3-storeys, Red and yellow brick; Dutch gable; oriel windows. Dated 1880, designed by E. J. May.

What better place for the society which works to protect Victorian and Edwardian buildings from demolition and destruction than a very 1880s house on a corner of a Victorian suburban development. 

 

 It's mostly used as offices now and for Open House they'd put up some displays explaining what they do and were doing a bit of low intensity recruiting. Tea and cake was available but I gave it a miss as they appeared only to have chocolate cake left.

There are some nice original features but to be honest I've worked in any number of similar houses converted to offices.

Which I suppose is rather the point, these Victorian places are well built and can be adapted to new uses rather than being knocked down and replaced by buildings with a shorter designed life expectancy.

The entry on the Open House programme listing gives a more detailed description of the house and the work of the society. While I was there the local press photographer turned up to get some shots of people enjoying their Open House visit so you never know, my "Peoples Republic of Middlesex" tee shirt might find fame in the Chiswick Herald, the Hounslow & Chiswick Guardian, or on some other clickbaity local news website 😄

I enjoyed the walk there from Mortlake via the Thames at Barnes. The unexpected walk back to Mortlake due to the almost inevitable early termination of the E3 bus I enjoyed a bit less but I made it in time to catch my train.

There are more photos in my Open House 2024 Flickr Album

Open House 2024 (2): Burton Mausoleum

 

ST MARY MAGDALEN'S RC CHURCH, 61 NORTH WORPLE WAY, MORTLAKE, SW14 8PR

Open House web site says:

 Grade II* listed mausoleum in the form of a Bedouin tent carved to resemble draping canvas. The mausoleum houses the coffins of Sir Richard and Lady Isabel Burton. The interior is painted with religious imagery and decorated with camel bells, lamps, and dried flowers.

It really does look like an old tent. Helped by the stone's acquiring since 1890 a  covering of grime, lichen and moss. You have to get fairly close before it becomes apparent that the fabric is sandstone and not canvas.

This is the final resting place of Richard Burton. No, not that one. Sir Richard Burton the explorer, writer, scholar, and military officer. The one who translated One Thousand and One Nights, published the Kama Sutra in English, and tried to locate the source of the Nile. That Richard Burton. He travelled extensively in the Middle East and studied the region's culture and religion, controversially (even more so in modern eyes) disguised himself as an Afghan Sheik and performed the Hajj, the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca.  

 

 The mausoleum also contains Lady Isabel Burton, his wife, who designed the structure incorporating Middle Eastern symbolism and that of her own Roman Catholic faith. Why a tent? Burton is recorded as having said to Isabel that when they died, ‘I should like us both to be in a tent, side by side’. And so they are. 

At the rear there is a skylight window, incorporated because Burton was said to be afraid of the dark. I suppose no one was going to tell him that he wouldn't need to worry about that given that he had a bit of a scary reputation. It was originally of stained glass but some nerk put that in during the 60s or 70s when vandalism also resulted in the doorway being sealed shut to protect the interior. The stained glass was replaced by thick clear glass which means that by climbing a short, sturdy vertical ladder fixed into the ground on the east side you can see the interior. The fancier coffin is Richard's, the plainer one Isabel's, and the decor does have a slight 1970s hippy look about it 😀

Habitat and Heritage look after the mausoleum and plans (funded I think they said) are underway to re-open the door to allow better access. Until then according to the link above access to the outside is usually available 0900 to 1500 daily. Although you won't benefit from having the enthusiastic and knowledgeable guides present for Open House. That page also gives a lot more info on both of the Burtons.

It's not somewhere I'd have stumbled upon without the pointer from Open House though and even if I had probably wouldn't have climbed the ladder lest someone shout at me, there being nothing to indicate that it is allowed.

There's more photos in my Open House 2024 Flickr Album 

Open House 2024 (1): Air Raid Shelter, St Leonards Court

 

PALMERS ROAD, EAST SHEEN, SW14 7NG

Open House web site says:

The Air Raid Shelter was first built in 1939 for the the residents of St Leonards Court. A dormitory annex with 48 beds was added in 1940. Some of the original features, such as handmade lampshades, are remarkably well preserved.

I'd read about this place before but never actually managed to get here during previous Open House weeks so this year I made a point of heading to Mortlake first.

This was a private air raid shelter built by the developer of the flats who could see which way the winds of war were blowing. Originally two rooms with seating for 120, although that was less than the number of residents at the outbreak of the war. It was only open to the residents of the flats, residents in the houses on the other side of the street had to go to the public shelters further away.

As a fairly confined space access to the shelter for Open House was by guided tour but with no need to book in advance and as I was there at opening time there was only three of us and the lady giving the tour explaining the history and pointing out the features.

It really is a hidden gem. Although some of it was used post war for storage it is substantially unchanged from how it was built. The original benches, chemical toilets, light fittings  (including the bulbs!), and other fittings such as coat hooks with period sign-written numbers all remain in situ.

In the dormitory annex which was added in 1940 there are still home made lampshades over where the bunks were. Most of the original bunk boards have gone because if you leave decent quality oak planks lying about they tend to get reused elsewhere but one has been recreated to show the space you got for your £7 yearly rent. (Approx £330 in 2024).

There's a much fuller history here at the Habitats and Heritage website who look after the site. Currently it's  operated under a licence from the freeholder so only open for educational visits and once a year for Open House but they are hoping to secure a lease which will mean it could be opened more often. It would also mean they could restore the electricity supply and carry out some much needed maintenance since the structure is currently on the English Heritage 'at risk' register. I wish them well.

 

 There are more photos in my Open House 2024 Flickr Album