Workmen in London, 1 Feb 1937

[chrisscales]

The attached photo is of my great-grandad George Scales (1887-1946). It is a Jerome Ltd picture posted stamped 1 Feb 1937 on reverse with no other details.

It's the only photograph we have of him and I'm trying to figure out what they are doing. It looks to me like a team of men on a tea break (his companion is drinking a tin mug of something and they're eating sandwiches). They appear to be standing on what might be a work-in-progress seating platform, presumably for some kind of public event. From the buildings in the background it looks like a London park or square.

He was a Wheelwright by trade and according to my nan he worked for the Borough of Bermondsey, which presumably means he was employed by the local council. She said she thought he made wheels for transport, like buses etc. But he may have done other things... He is variously listed at the age of 24 as a Wheelwright working for a Van Builders, age 42 as a Coach Builder, and aged 55 as a Wheelwright, so his job was pretty consistent throughout.

Does anybody have any thoughts as to what a wheelwright employed by Bermondsey council might be doing at the construction of tiered seating in a London park in early 1937? The closest parks to him would have been Southwark Park or Burgess Park, though the buildings in the photo look more like central London to me - that said, I don't know what the buildings surrounding South London's parks would have looked like pre-war.

Is it too early to be some kind of preparation for the Coronation procession of King George? Getty has this where some seating seems to be up along the mall by early March: http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/workmen-using-a-special-drill-to-bore-holes-for-banner-news-photo/3229224 and scaffolding for stands at Parliament Square going up in January: http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/workmen-erecting-stands-for-sightseerers-around-parliament-news-photo/3206936

Any and all guesses and ideas welcome!

Chris

[horselydown86]

Making the wooden part of a coach or cart wheel is just a specialized form of joinery.  All of those skills would be useful in the work of construction seen in the photographs.

I would imagine that construction for an extraordinary event such as a coronation procession would be "all hands on deck" at the council, so anyone with such skills would be called upon.

By 1937 there would be less call on the wheelwrights' skills for the council fleet than previously.  Steel wheels replaced the wooden and artillery wheels from earlier decades.  Your man probably was doing a range of wood and light metal working jobs, as his occupation list suggests.

[barryd]

They are building "Bleachers" .... temporary seats or stands to watch a parade or to watch a show of some sort. Today all the parts would fit together and go into storage for the next show but this seems to be more special and the local council seem to be building them for a one off occasion.

The Free Dictionary ...... tiered seats consisting of a structure (often made of wood) where people can sit to watch an event (game or parade etc.)

[Geoff-E]

The Coronation was in May 1937.

[avm228]

It "feels" like Constitution Hill, though I cannot easily find a comparable image to support that hunch.

If so it was part of the extended return procession route used after the Coronation ceremony on 12 May 1937.  On the way to the Abbey they took a much more direct route.

I must say I am surprised that construction began months in advance, though the other links you have found demonstrate that it did.  It all seems to be a very streamlined process nowadays.

Looks like a rather mild 1 February!  Hot work, though, no doubt.

[chrisscales]

Thanks all for your input. I had no idea these were called bleachers, thanks for that.

It's funny you say that about Constitution Hill because I was thinking it looked like the buildings behind Green Park, near the tube station and the Ritz etc. I didn't realise the return procession came up Constitution Hill but reading it now you may be right, it seems a likely location.

Perhaps the distinctive lamppost in the background and the buildings could be the clincher, I'll have to take a trip down to Green Park one day...

Wikipedia paraphrases: "special seating was also constructed to incorporate the large number of guests; 1937 was the first year to make use of metal structures to support the seats, in the form of tubular steel. 400 tons were used alongside 72,000 cubic feet of wood, with 400 men working on the construction" (Roy Strong, Coronation, 2005, pp. 462-463)

Seating of a similar construction outside the palace: http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/group-of-early-spectators-sit-on-the-grandstand-outside-news-photo/3331750 and children playing on scaffolding in Hyde Pa k: http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/children-playing-on-scaffolding-erected-in-hyde-park-london-news-photo/3416460

[philipsearching]

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/workmen-erecting-stands-for-sightseerers-around-parliament-news-photo/3206936 have a photograph of workmen erecting scaffolding on 24 January 1937 in preparation for the coronation, so the date on your photograph fits in with these works.

All the best
Philip

[chrisscales]

Would anybody agree with me that this depicts the right hand building in my photo (attached) or somewhere along the same row of buildings - it is just left of what is now the Hard Rock Cafe:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5030408,-0.149216,3a,50.1y,341.88h,97.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVPfADyU0VQzDJS6jAyEzoQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656



N.B. related post: http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=758556.0

[ScouseBoy]

Could it possibly be Horse Guards Parade?          Where they currently  have the  Queens Birthday Trooping the Colour events.