Ride Like the Wind

Today we are heading back to Coventry. But before we do we are heading up to The Alexander Palace for breakfast and to see where TV began in Britain. Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed[2] entertainment and sports venue in London, located between Muswell Hill and Wood Green. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm.[3] Originally built by John Johnson and Alfred Meeson, it opened in 1873 but following a fire two weeks after its opening, was rebuilt by Johnson. Intended as "The People's Palace" and referred to as "Ally Pally", its purpose was to serve as a public centre of recreation, education and entertainment; North London's counterpart to the Crystal Palace in South London.[4]

Alexandra
Location
Alexandra Park
London, N22
Coordinates
51°35′38″N 0°07′48″W
Public transit
National Rail Alexandra Palace
London Underground Wood Green
Operator
Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust
Capacity
800 (Panorama Room)
1,750 (East Hall/Ice Rink)
2,000 (Palm Court)
2,500 (West Hall)
8,250 (Great Hall)
Construction
Broke ground
September 1865
Opened
1 May 1875
Renovated
1873–75, 1980–88, 2016–17
Construction cost
£417,000
(£36.6 million in 2016 pounds[1])
Architect
Owen Jones, John Johnson and Alfred Meeson
Builder
Kelk and Lucas
Website
Venue Website
Building details
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
General information
Inaugurated
24 May 1873
At first a private venture, in 1900, the owners planned to sell it and Alexandra Park for development. A group of neighbouring local authorities managed to acquire it. An Act of Parliament created the Alexandra Palace and Park Trust. The Act required the Trustees to maintain the Palace and Park and make them available for the free use and recreation of the public forever. The present trustee is the London Borough of Haringey, whose coat of arms shows lightning bolts depicting the Palace's pioneering role in the development of television.

In 1935, the trustees leased part of the palace to the BBC for use as the production and transmission centre for their new BBC Television. In 1936, it became the home of the world's first regular public television service. The broadcasting system was the 405-line monochrome analogue television – the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. Although other facilities soon superseded it after the war, Alexandra Palace continued to be used by the BBC for many years and its radio and television mast is still in use. The original studios 'A' and 'B' still survive in the so.

Breakfast was lovely as the owner of the cafe came out to talk to us and make sure we were enjoying our meal. We walked around the venue for over an hour before heading off to Stanstead to drop Miguel off. He is flying home to Xabia today. It will be sad to see him go. But hopefully I will see him in October after my cruise. We arrived back at Ritchie’s just after five o’clock and although we were going to take them out for dinner,we decided everyone was knackered so we ordered takeaway. By ten thirty I could not keep my eyes open so Ollie and I went to bed. He is such a lovely boy......
Week diary that’s goodnight from me. XRead more