Blythe House

Blythe House is a listed building located at 23 Blythe Road.

The main block of Blythe House, seen from Hazlitt Road, Olympia.
Credit: Wiki Commons/Docben

Blythe House was built between 1899 and 1903 as the main office of the Post Office Savings Bank, which had outgrown its previous headquarter in Queen Victoria Street. By 1902 the Bank had 12,000 branches and more than 9 million accounts.

Blythe House included a post office intended to deal with the official correspondence involved in the work of the Savings Bank. The post office handled about 100,000 letters every working day.

In 1963 the government announced that the Bank’s main centre of operations would be moved to Glasgow. A small headquarters staff remained in London, moving to Charles House on Kensington High Street. The Bank finally left Blythe House in the early 1970s.

Main source:	Blythe House - Wikipedia
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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

Milson Road, W14

Added: 17 May 2023 11:50 GMT

Milson Road (1908 - 1954)
My grandparents and great grandparents and great great grandparents the Manley family lived at 33 Milson Road from 1908 to 1935. My grandad was born at 33 Milson Road. His parents George and Grace had all four of their chidren there. When his father Edward died his mother moved to 67 Milson in 1935 Road and lived there until 1954 (records found so far, it may be longer). Before that they lived in the Porten Road. I wonder if there is anyone that used to know them? My grandad was Charles ’Ted’ Manley, his parents were called George and Grace and George’s parents were called Edward and Bessie. George worked in a garage and Edward was a hairdresser.

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Admin

Olympia

Added: 26 Aug 2022 12:17 GMT

TV comes to Olympia
Over 7000 people queued to see the first high definition television pictures on sets at the Olympia Radio Show. The pictures were transmitted by the BBC from Alexandra Palace, introduced by Leslie Mitchell, their first announcer.

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LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

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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Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith (2013) Credit: Wiki Commons/Chmee2 TUM image id: 1668683030 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Abbotsbury Road, Holland Park (2008) These houses are just beside an entrance to Holland Park. Further along the road was the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi meditation centre visited by the Beatles in 1967. Credit: Geograph/David Hawgood TUM image id: 1623742620 Licence:	Addison Gardens, W14 Old London postcard TUM image id: 1623764925 Licence:	Addison Place Credit: Google Maps TUM image id: 1457274476 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Addison Road, W14 (1909) Addison Road takes its name from the essayist Joseph Addison who lived nearby at Holland House. Old London postcard TUM image id: 1623768752 Licence:
Colet House Credit: The Study Society TUM image id: 1605092347 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Dewhurst Road, Hammersmith Credit: Adam Raven (1952–2006), Hammersmith Library TUM image id: 1668731003 Licence:	Brick makers in Hammersmith In the mid 19th century, the area from Brook Green to Shepherd’s Bush and east to Counter’s Creek was almost wholly devoted to brickmaking. Lakeside Road lay in the heart of the gravel pits between Shepherd’s Bush and Brook Green, known as the ’Ocean’ owing to its marshes and lying water caused by digging for brick clay. TUM image id: 1563206149 Licence:	Talgarth Road’s crossroad with North End Road prior to widening (1950s) Credit: Alisdair Macdonald TUM image id: 1605090780 Licence: CC BY 2.0	A No.27 bus departing from Hammersmith Bus Station c1920 TUM image id: 1668684872 Licence: CC BY 2.0
Redlynch Court, W14 is a block on the corner of Addison Crescent and Addison Road. The original house on the corner was bombed in the Second World War and subsequently demolished. TUM image id: 1623767905 Licence:	Latymer Court, W14 Latymer Court is a huge mansion block - at time of building in 1934 by Gordon Jeeves architects it was the largest block of its kind in Europe. Credit: Jamie Barras TUM image id: 1668005604 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Rushing for the train at Hammersmith (District line) station (1933) TUM image id: 1708039491 Licence:	The Wellington Arms, c. 1900 Tatcho (advertised on a hoarding) was a brand of hair restorer. TUM image id: 1668713319 Licence:	Barons Keep is a gated community in West Kensington. Credit: GoArt/The Underground Map TUM image id: 1610031496 Licence:

In the neighbourhood...

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Abbotsbury Road, Holland Park (2008) These houses are just beside an entrance to Holland Park. Further along the road was the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi meditation centre visited by the Beatles in 1967.
Credit: Geograph/David Hawgood
Licence:

Addison Gardens, W14
Old London postcard
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Colet House
Credit: The Study Society
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Brick makers in Hammersmith In the mid 19th century, the area from Brook Green to Shepherd’s Bush and east to Counter’s Creek was almost wholly devoted to brickmaking. Lakeside Road lay in the heart of the gravel pits between Shepherd’s Bush and Brook Green, known as the ’Ocean’ owing to its marshes and lying water caused by digging for brick clay.
Licence:

Talgarth Road’s crossroad with North End Road prior to widening (1950s)
Credit: Alisdair Macdonald
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Redlynch Court, W14 is a block on the corner of Addison Crescent and Addison Road. The original house on the corner was bombed in the Second World War and subsequently demolished.
Licence:

Latymer Court, W14 Latymer Court is a huge mansion block - at time of building in 1934 by Gordon Jeeves architects it was the largest block of its kind in Europe.
Credit: Jamie Barras
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Barons Keep is a gated community in West Kensington.
Credit: GoArt/The Underground Map
Licence:

The St Paul’s Studios block was aimed at the housing of ’bachelor artists’. These unmarried men would require a separate flat for their housekeepers and their artistic endeavours would require the large windows with natural light facing Colet Gardens. And it became so. The block was occupied within a year of being built by the very clientele it had been designed for. The block looked out onto a peaceful suburban scene until the turn of the 1960s. Quiet Colet Gardens, with its milk floats and schoolchildren, fell victim to the upgraded A4 scheme whereby the Cromwell Road was extended westwards to link to the Hammersmith Flyover via this very spot. Renamed as part of the Talgarth Road, the widened route became the main road west out of London towards Heathrow. Thundering lorries put paid to the artistic charms of St Paul’s Studios. Pictures is from the St Paul’s Studios 1891 sales brochure
Credit: Building News magazine
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King’s Theatre, Hammersmith Road, October 1903 The 3000-seat theatre opened on 26 December 1902 with a production of Cinderella. It was a popular venue but had to close in 1955. After a subsequent period as a TV studio, it was demolished in 1963.
Licence: CC BY 2.0

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