White City Stadium

White City Stadium was built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, and hosted the finish of the first modern marathon.

It was designed by J.J. Webster and completed within 10 months by George Wimpey on part of the site of the Franco-British Exhibition.

The stadium had a seating capacity of 68,000 was opened by King Edward VII on 27 April 1908. Upon completion, the stadium had a running track 24 ft wide and three laps to the mile. Outside the stadium there was a 660 yard cycle track.

Many events of the 1908 Olympics were held at the stadium. Even swimming was held at White City Stadium, in a 100-yard pool dug into the infield. The distance of the modern marathon was fixed at the 1908 Games and calculated from the start of the race at Windsor Castle to a point in front of the royal box at White City.

The original running track continued in use until 1914. There were attempts to sell the stadium in 1922, but several athletes in the team for the 1924 Summer Olympics used it for training.

From 1927 to 1984, it was a venue for greyhound racing, hosting the English Greyhound Derby.

In 1931, a running track was installed for the Amateur Athletic Association Championships which were held there from 1932 to 1970. In 1934 the second British Empire Games and the fourth Women’s World Games were held at the venue.

Also in 1931, Queens Park Rangers (QPR) began the first of two spells playing at the stadium, until 1933. The second spell was from 1962–63. QPR eventually decided against a permanent move to White City.

Between 1932 and 1958 the stadium hosted major British boxing events, with attendances peaking as high as 90,000 for the second meeting between Len Harvey and Jack Petersen in 1934.

In 1933, Wigan Highfield, a rugby league side, decided to move the club to White City. Wigan Highfield became London Highfield. The White City Company lost money on the venture and decided not to continue with rugby league. London Highfield was the precursor to London Broncos, later a leading rugby league club in London.

In 1966, the Wembley stadium owner’s refusal to cancel regular greyhound racing meant the match between Uruguay and France in the 1966 FIFA World Cup was played at White City.

The stadium was demolished in 1985 and the site went onto be owned by the BBC.

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Tony Whipple Frank Whipple Place, E14 Added: 16 Apr 2024 21:35 GMT	Frank Whipple Place, E14 Frank was my great-uncle, I’d often be ’babysat’ by Peggy while Nan and Dad went to the pub. Peggy was a marvel, so full of life. My Dad and Frank didn’t agree on most politics but everyone in the family is proud of him. A genuinely nice, knowledgable bloke. One of a kind. Reply
Theresa Penney Whites Row, E1 Added: 16 Apr 2024 18:08 GMT	1 Whites Row My 2 x great grandparents and his family lived here according to the 1841 census. They were Dutch Ashkenazi Jews born in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 19th century but all their children were born in Spitalfields. Reply
Wendy The Polygon Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT	Polygon Buildings Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings. Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT	Road construction and houses completed New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only. Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT	Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS) One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc. I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Charles Hornsey Rise, N19 Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT	My House I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s. Reply
NH Woodgrange Road, E7 Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT	Telephone House Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000 Reply
Paul Cox Aldine Street, W12 Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT	War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there. Reply

LOCAL PHOTOS

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Percy Thrower and John Noakes in the Blue Peter Garden, White City (1975) Credit: BBC TUM image id: 1527783044 Licence:	Shepherd’s Bush Market in the 1950s TUM image id: 1483010924 Licence:	The construction of the White City Estate began in the late 1930s and was finished after the Second World War. It is named after the White City Exhibition that took place on the site in 1908. The estate was built by the London County Council. 23 blocks were completed by the outbreak of the war, with the rest completed afterwards. Credit: London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham TUM image id: 1680170016 Licence:	London West Ten Credit: The Underground Map TUM image id: 1600607557 Licence:	Local resident Trevor who grew tomatoes in compost made from Frestonian residents’ waste. Frestonia was the name adopted by the residents of Freston Road, London W11, when they attempted to secede from the United Kingdom in 1977 to form the Free and Independent Republic of Frestonia. Many residents eventually set up a housing co-op in negotiation with Notting Hill Housing Trust, and included artists, musicians, writers, actors and activists. Actor David Rappaport was the Frestonia Foreign Minister while playwright Heathcote Williams served as Ambassador to the United Kingdom. TUM image id: 1455723675 Licence:
Martin Street, looking west (1960s) Martin Street disappeared from the map as the Latimer Road area was redeveloped in the late 1960s TUM image id: 1604228974 Licence:	Archway Close, W10 was built on the site of a large house - 70 St Mark’s Road - which covered the site. It lies at the back of the Carmelite Monastery Gardens. Credit: Google Maps TUM image id: 1457272377 Licence:	Princess Louise Hospital TUM image id: 1490700922 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Construction work on the Wormholt Estate (1920) The East Acton area lay in a ’railway desert’ until the arrival of the Central Line. While areas to the north and south urbanised, a pocket of countryside survived very close to Shepherds Bush until after the First World War. This continuing bad connection with the rest of the area, before the First World War, allowed White City stadium to be developed as a green field site. Credit: London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham TUM image id: 1586274051 Licence:	Bloemfontein Road - part of the White City estate Credit: GoArt/The Underground Map TUM image id: 1563736710 Licence:
Wood Lane station, c.1914 TUM image id: 1502717800 Licence:	White City Close Credit: GoArt/The Underground Map TUM image id: 1563739473 Licence: CC BY 2.0	The Wellington Arms, c. 1900 Tatcho (advertised on a hoarding) was a brand of hair restorer. TUM image id: 1668713319 Licence:	Workmen throwing sand on the snow-covered Richmond Way in Shepherd’s Bush (1963). Looking south down the street the Duke of Edinburgh pub is to the left hand side. Credit: Alisdair Macdonald TUM image id: 1668097309 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Latimer Road as featured in the film ’The Blue Lamp’ (1950). Just past the tall (out-of-sight) Latimer Road school building and printers was the patent steam carpet cleaners as is Bramley Road’s Bramley Arms with Latimer Road School further on down through the arches on the right. Credit: Ealing Studios TUM image id: 1603095987 Licence:

In the neighbourhood...

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Percy Thrower and John Noakes in the Blue Peter Garden, White City (1975)
Credit: BBC
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The construction of the White City Estate began in the late 1930s and was finished after the Second World War. It is named after the White City Exhibition that took place on the site in 1908. The estate was built by the London County Council. 23 blocks were completed by the outbreak of the war, with the rest completed afterwards.
Credit: London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
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London West Ten
Credit: The Underground Map
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Princess Louise Hospital
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Wood Lane station, c.1914
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White City Close
Credit: GoArt/The Underground Map
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Wood Lane station, MacFarlane Place entrance (1937)
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Wood Lane (Central Line) station with a pivoting wooden platform extension. Prior to the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition, the western terminus of the Central London Railway was at Shepherd’s Bush. North of Shepherd’s Bush was Wood Lane depot. When the exhibition opened, a temporary station was constructed within the northern perimeter of the depot on the site of the reversing siding. A new tunnel was bored to connect directly to the end of the eastbound tunnel at Shepherd’s Bush station, forming a loop. As constructed for the exhibition, Wood Lane station had just a single track with platforms on each side: one for loading and the other for unloading. Trains entered the station anti-clockwise in a westbound direction from the tunnel under the depot, and exited heading south back into the tunnel in the direction of Shepherd’s Bush station. Following the success of the exhibition a number of other entertainment venues, notably White City Stadium, grew up in the area and the temporary station at Wood Lane became a permanent fixture. Wood Lane became the western terminus of the CLR. Until the late 1920s, the railway used carriages that were accessed by gated entrances at the carriage ends. When new rolling stock was introduced with sliding pneumatic doors, Wood Lane’s loop platforms had to be extended to provide access to all doors but it was not possible to extend the platform on the inside of the loop (the south side) as it interfered with an access track to the depot. A pivoting section of platform - seen here - was constructed that could be moved to allow access to the depot to be made when required.
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