| THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN |
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| An Idea is Born |
| Welcome to 1951 | An Idea is Born | Building the Future | The South Bank | Pleasure Gardens | Lansbury |
| By Road & Sea | Regional Festivals | The End | Reminders | FoB Society | Links |
| The idea of a Festival to commemorate the centenary of The Great Exhibition of 1851 first appeared in 1943 at a time when the country had a great deal of other things to ponder upon. In 1945 it raised its head again when a letter from contemporary designer, John Gloag, appeared in the Times, an event that inspired the editor of the News Chronicle, Gerald Barry, to write an open letter in his paper addressed to Sir Stafford Cripps. As President of the Board of Trade, Cripps would be the one that Barry needed to progress his suggestion of a trade and cultural exhibition which would repeat the success of Prince Albert's Great Exhibition and promote and advertise Britain's design and manufacturing skills to the world in the immediate post-war era. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gerald Reid Barry (seen right with an early design of
the Festival site) was born in Surbiton in 1898 and educated at Marlborough
College. In 1916 he joined the Royal Flying Corp and witnessed war at its
worse. His interest in history and literature led him to a career in journalism reaching the dizzy heights of editor of the Saturday Review in 1924. This was followed by a similar position with the Weekend Review - and when that was absorbed into the New Statesman Barry moved to the News Chronicle as features editor. Over the years Barry became something of a champion for both political and artistic causes - leanings that were to hold him in good stead when it came to the Festival of Britain! |
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Barry's open letter sparked a chain reaction. A committee was formed
to look into the idea coming to the conclusion in 1947 that an international
festival was beyond Britain's means at that time, but that there was
considerable potential for a national celebration. In 1948 the Festival Council
was set up to progress the idea under Herbert Morrison's leadership (pictured
far left) with General Lord Ismay (pictured left) as Chairman. On the 1st April 1948 Gerald Barry, who had resigned from the News Chronicle a year earlier, joined the Festival Council as its Director General. A masterful and diplomatic manager of people, Barry trod a delicate path between the left and right wing factions with considerable skill and if the success of the Festival can be laid at the feet of anyone it is Gerald Barry. |
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| Barry and his
secretary, Leonard Crainford, set up a temporary office in the Royal Society of
Arts building and together with other interested parties they spent the next
two months setting out their vision for the Festival. In 1949 a permanent
Festival Office was set up at 2 Savoy Court, almost directly opposite the site
on the South Bank of the Thames where the main exhibition site would be
located. Here as many of the constituent groups, the Central Office of
Information, Council of Industrial Design etc. as possible were gathered
together to streamline the organisation. Some of the finest designers in
Britain, Mischa Black, Ralph Tubbs, James Gardner and James Holland formed the
Presentation Panel under the Director of Architecture,
Hugh Casson. Barry knew that if the Festival was going to work then it had to
look right. He also knew that if it was to make money it had to attract
visitors from overseas. A fleet of four London buses were converted to a mobile
promotional vehicles and were sent to Europe to spread the word, exhibitions
and promotional exercises were also set up to attract visitors from the USA.
Unfortunately the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 put a large dampner
on trans-atlantic visitors who were frightened of the war spreading to acts of
terrorism against US citizens abroad, and much of Europe was still in the
throes of post-war reconstruction and austerity. The Festival was to be in many parts but there would be several major exhibitions so that as many people in the UK as possible would be able to see something of the Festival without having to travel to London. The South Bank site on the Thames would host the main exhibition with light relief being provided by the Festival Pleasure Gardens at Battersea. An Exhibition of Architecture showing the best of post-war urban design would be set up at the Crisp Street development near Poplar in East London, and a Science Exhibition would utilise space at the Science Museum in South Kensington. To take the Festival to the people a floating Festival exhibition was to be built aboard HMS Campania, a no longer needed aircraft carrier, which would then visit several major ports around the country. By land the 'Land Travelling Exhibition' would take its large tented exhibition hall and myriad of exhibits around the country in a massive fleet of lorries. In Glasgow the Kelvin Hall site would become the Exhibition of Power, while Belfast was to host the Festival of Farming. Finally there were the regional events and exhibitions, all branded with Abram Games competition winning Festival emblem, being organised in virtually every city, town and village from Bristol to Maghull. As mentioned above the Festival of Britain Exhibition Presentation Panel had the ultimate say in what was to be shown and how during 1951. The full and final panel became:
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Even though the Festival had many critics, not least of all Winston Churchill who saw it as a complete waste of time, effort and money, it now had the required momentum to proceed, and the people to lead it. |
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