London – Page 8 – Cottage Capers

On this day in history….6th December 1975

On this day in history : 6th December 1975 – The Balcombe Street Siege in London begins – when the IRA take a couple hostage after a gun battle and car chase – and it unfolds live on TV and is watched by millions….

The 4 IRA gunmen, who were on the run from the police, forced their way into the flat of husband and wife John and Sheila Matthews in Central London…. Police sealed off the area around Balcombe Street and Dorset Square in Marylebone and a mobile police headquarters was brought in….

The gunmen had been cornered by police after they had attacked a Mayfair restaurant but had managed to make it to their Ford Cortina getaway car…. They opened fire on the police from the car and a chase followed through the busy West End traffic to Marylebone…. The gang abandoned their car and ran down Balcombe Street and burst into a five-storey block of flats…. Sheila Matthews opened her flat door to see what all the commotion was and it was then that the gunmen forced their way passed her and in….

‘Scott’s’ in 2005 – The Mayfair restaurant the gang had originally attacked – Image credit : Oast House Archive CC BY-SA 2.0

The siege lasted for six days; the gang demanded safe passage to Ireland but the police were adamant that there was no deal to be made…. Initially negotiations were carried out by telephone but the gunmen broke this link by throwing the phone out of a window…. The police had to resort to using a loudhailer – eventually the gang asked for the phone to be reinstated; it was the first sign that they were cracking…. Finally the gunmen, Martin O’Connell, Edward Butler, Harry Duggan and Hugh Doherty – who became known as The Balcombe Street Gang – surrendered…. They were all sentenced to life imprisonment – but later released as part of the Good Friday Agreement….

Balcombe Street. Marylebone as it is now – Image credit : Oxyman CC BY-SA 2.0

On this day in history….2nd December 1697

On this day in history : 2nd December 1697 – The opening of the new St. Paul’s Cathedral, designed by Christopher Wren following the destruction of the old St. Paul’s in the Great Fire of London….

The old St. Paul’s, which had been consecrated in 1240, had been gutted by the fire…. It could have been reconstructed but the decision was made to rebuild a new and more modern style cathedral…. Christopher Wren was appointed to design the new building on the 30th of July 1669…. In all Wren was responsible for the design of more than 50 of the city’s new churches….

Reconstructed image of the old St. Paul’s – Public domain

He was asked to make sure that the new St. Paul’s was ‘Handsome and noble to all ends of it and to the reputation of the city and the nation”…. The design took him several years and the result was the second largest church in Britain, with its dome proclaimed the finest in the world….

The cathedral was financed by a tax on coal and took 35 years to complete – although the first service was held 22 years into its construction…. It was finally declared complete on Christmas Day 1711…. By 1716 the cost of the build had accumulated to £1,095,556 (over £165m in today’s terms)…. The new St. Paul’s was consecrated on the 2nd of December 1697, 31 years and 3 months after the Great Fire….

Image credit : Diliff – own work – CC BY-SA 3.0

British History

On this day in history….31st October 1971

On this day in history : 31st October 1971 – A bomb explodes in the revolving restaurant at the top of London’s Post Office Tower….

The Tower had been open for six years and the restaurant, situated on the 34th floor and with its panoramic views across the city, proved popular with London’s fashionable diners….

Panoramic view from the Tower – Image credit : Colin – own work – CC BY-SA 3.0

According to the Manager of the restaurant around 100 hoax bomb threats had been made over the previous five years or so…. Only this time the threat was for real…. A warning had been given and the building searched – but nothing was found…. At 4.30am an explosion blasted holes in the outer walls of the restaurant and viewing galleries…. Buildings and parked cars up to 400m away were damaged and local residents were woken in their beds…. Thankfully nobody was hurt…. The police received a call shortly after from a man claiming to be from the Kilburn Battalion of the IRA…. The bombing had all the hallmarks of the IRA – although far left anarchist organisation the Angry Brigade also later claimed responsibility….

The bomb had been planted in the roof space of the men’s toilets on the lowest of the public viewing galleries…. It was thought a diner may have gained access to a restricted internal staircase in order to plant it….

The restaurant was closed to the public – and when the owner’s lease expired in 1980 it was closed permanently…. The revolving floor still remains functioning and nowadays the restaurant is used for occasional corporate entertaining….and is also used for part of the filming of the BBC’s annual Children in Need fundraising event….

Image credit : David Castor – own work – Public domain

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….7th January 1965

On this day in history : 7th January 1965 – The Kray twins are remanded in custody after being charged with running a protection racket in London….

The Kray twins, 1965 – taken by David Bailey (Reggie on the left, Ronnie forefront) – Fair use

The case revolved around a Soho nightclub owned by Hew McGowan, the son of a wealthy baronet, who had bought the club – ‘The Hideaway’, in Gerrard Street, in 1964….

McGowan claimed the 31-year-old identical twins, Ronnie and Reggie, had offered to supply two doormen for the club for a percentage of the takings…. However, it was said that it was in fact McGowan, knowing that the Krays were wanting to increase their influence in the West End, who offered them 20% of the venture…. When McGowan reneged on the deal it did not take much time before the Kray twins began to ‘demand money with menace’…. McGowan went to the police….

The twins were arrested at the Glenrae Hotel, on the Seven Sisters Road, North London – where they were listed as being company directors…. They were taken into custody and then refused bail, even though they offered sureties of £18,000…. They were remanded at Brixton Prison until their trial date, which was set for March….

The Krays’ defence argued that the twins had only become involved with the club to help secure investment for a future project in Nigeria – it had nothing to do with ‘protection’…. The jury were unable to come to an agreement and a re-trial was ordered…. After three trials the Kray twins were acquitted, along with a third accused man, Edward Smith, a free-lance writer….

Within a month the twins had bought and taken control of the Hideaway, changing its name to ‘El Morocco’…. They threw a huge party at the nightclub to celebrate….

On the 8th of May 1968 Ronnie and Reggie Kray were arrested again, to face numerous charges, including murder…. After being convicted in March 1969 they were sentenced to life imprisonment….