C - The Festival of Britain Alphabet

The Festival of Britain was a major post-war celebration of the country and a beacon of hope for a better and brighter future. The main site at the South Bank in London was opened on 4 May 1951. However towns, cities and villages across the United Kingdom were encouraged to put on their own celebrations. This blog celebrates the quirkiness of the Festival of Britain away from the main London venues. It is by no means comprehensive as it only draws from my collection of Festival of Britain memorabilia. Each week over the course of the main festival period I will attempt to go through the alphabet. If you want to find out more about the Festival of Britain you may like to become a member of the Festival of Britain Society www.fobsociety.co.uk.

C is for….

Camborne, a town of about 20,000 people in Cornwall in the far south-west of England. Their Festival of Britain activities included a Manufacturer’s Exhibition and Shopping Week, which was held in mid-October after the main national event had closed. It would be interesting to know if the town held any other festival events during that summer.

 

Highlights of the week, as declared by the official catalogue, included a “Who Dressed It” window dressing competition, the appearance of Ben Johnston, the Champion Town Crier of Great Britain, and Charlie Camborne, a spot the mystery man competition (a prize could be claimed if you spotted him and said the words “Good-day Charlie Camborne. I challenge you and I claim my reward”).

The Manufacturing Week also includes a “short, snappy variety concert” held in the skating rink.

 

The skating rink was of the roller rather than ice variety. This indoor facility closed 30 years later in 1981.

C is also for Crosby, in north-west England. The municipal borough of Crosby was formed in 1937 and sat in the county of Lancashire, but in 1974 it was incorporated into the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside. The area is perhaps best known today for Antony Gormley’s artwork Another Place, a series of statues on Crosby Beach.

 

The exhibition, which was held in a local school, consisted mainly of model ships and paintings. It included a 53 inch (1.34 m) long fruit cake and icing model of RMS Queen Elizabeth. A Grand Shipping and Naval Ball and a Grand Film Show were amongst the other attractions.

 Keeping with the nautical theme, C is also for Campania, or HMS Campania to be precise. The aircraft carrier was converted into a travelling Festival of Britain exhibition which called at the ports of Southampton, Dundee, Newcastle, Hull, Plymouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Belfast, Birkenhead and Glasgow over the period 4 May to 6 October.

 

The official brochure for the tour is in the standard format for the Festival of Britain, incorporating the famous logo designed by Abram Games.

The ship was decked out as a mini version of the main South Bank exhibition, as shown in the diagram below.

 

HMS Campania herself was originally laid down as a merchant vessel, but was converted into an aircraft carrier for World War II. After the Festival of Britain she was converted once again to be the command ship for the first British atomic bomb tests in 1952, eventually being sold for scrap in 1955.

Although the ship brought the exhibition to the people, there were still excursions to bring people to the ship, as witnessed by this leaflet for cheap day tickets from “all stations within 80 miles” of Birkenhead.

 

Talking of excursions, C is for Calico Printers’ Association Ltd of Manchester, who organised a trip to the main Festival of Britain events in London.

 

The somewhat exhausting sounding trip left Manchester by train at 12.45 in the morning on Saturday 7 July, and returned back over 27 hours later at 4.20 on Sunday morning. Incidentally the start and end point, Manchester London Road station, was renamed as Manchester Piccadilly in 1960.