This is a space for occasional articles by EFLUG members about our Library.
All contributions will be considered!
Our Library Now and Then
by Leslie Gilbert - January 2008
On the wall in the library a circular plaque above the photocopier records the opening on 1 March 1938. Life was, of course, rather different then.
TV broadcasting was about two years old. There was just one channel, transmitted from the mast at Alexandra Palace which you can still see across the Martin School field. Here is the schedule of all the programmes for that Tuesday:
3pm to 4pm: Intimate Cabaret, Movietone news, Old Kentucky music.
9pm to 10pm: Continental songs, Design fair, Movietone news, play.
A Morris Eight car cost £126, while a rather more classy Riley 1.5 litre cost £299. If you were really well off you could buy a freehold house in Knightsbridge (4 beds, 2 receps, tiled bathroom, parquet floors) for £2800 or offer.
There were plans to fit all the carriages on the District and Metropolitan lines with air-worked doors. The North Circular was becoming as crowded as Kingston High Street in the evening. The great majority of air liners leaving Croydon carried either a steward or a stewardess who could reassure passengers that bumps were harmless. A proposal was being mooted for an airport on the Thames at Tilbury capable of taking the big flying-boats of the future.
The weather forecast was for a mild day with some rain or drizzle (at least some things never change).
All this information was in The Times for the day - price two and a half pennies, equivalent to one penny today. How do I know? By browsing the paper via the '24/7 online Reference Library', which is available in the library or at home to anyone with a library card. And there's access to much much more. A leaflet is available in the library. It's brilliant; have a go!