The Cloud

The Saunders-Roe (Saro) A.19 Cloud amphibious flying-boat was produced in two forms: as a civil eight-seater and as a military trainer. In the latter role the RAF received 16 from 1933. The large cabin provided accommodation for eight pupils; six pupils and wireless and electrical equipment, navigation instruments and signalling apparatus; or four.pupils and the above equipment for navigational training. Alternatively, the Cloud could be used for flying training, to simulate the conditions to be met with a larger service type of flying-boat. Power was provided by two 253kW Armstrong Siddeley Double Mongoose engines.

Photos: via amphalon @ Flickr

Info: Virtual Aircraft Museum

Across the Channel

The almost annual guide, one of a series issued by the Southern Railway of England covering many continental destinations, to Normandy & Brittany in France. This rather abstract cover is by P Irwin Brown - Pieter Irwin Brown, the Dutch artist.

Image and text: mikeyashworth @ Flickr

The Hood, the Engine, the Cockpit

1938 Riley Sprite

85 miles per hour

Photos by tatraskoda @ Flickr

Green Coach

Foden Streamliner of Whieldon Green Coaches Company

1934

Photo via Ronnie Cameron, on Flickr

The Lady and the Gull

11 Sep 1936, Berkshire, England, UK

Pilot Beryl Markham,

posing for photographer at Abingdon Aerodrome, Berkshire,

prior to take off for her solo flight across the Atlantic.

When Markham decided to take on the Atlantic crossing, no pilot had yet flown non-stop from Europe to New York, and no woman had made the westward flight solo, though several had died trying. Markham hoped to claim both records. On 4 September 1936, she took off from Abingdon, England. After a 20-hour flight, her Vega Gull, The Messenger, suffered fuel starvation due to icing of the fuel tank vents, and she crash-landed at Baleine Cove on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada (her flight was, in all likelihood, almost identical in length to Mollison's). In spite of falling short of her goal, Markham had become the first woman to cross the Atlantic east-to-west solo, and the first person to make it from England to North America non-stop from east to west. She was celebrated as an aviation pioneer.

Info: Wikipedia

Red & Green For Hire

Andrew Power, 1930s

via Lloyd Rich (Ledlon89), on Flickr

Centenary Trains

Liverpool & Manchester Centenary - Celebrations 1830-1930',

LR and MR poster

1930

Poster produced for the Liverpool Railway (LR) and Manchester Railway (MR) to promote their centenary celebrations. The centenary celebrations were heavily promoted, and held in Liverpool between 13th and 20th September 1930. The very latest locomotives were on show, along with miniature railway systems and a paegent of transport every evening. Artwork by P Irwin Brown. Dimensions: 40" x 50". Printed by S C Allen & Co, London.

Image & info: Flatbadger @ Flickr

Schneider Trophy!

The Schneider Trophy Contest 1929 - official programme cover

A stirring front cover from the 1929 Schneider Trophy Contest souvenir programme that was produced by Gale & Polden (a major publisher of thing military in Aldershot) on behalf of the organisers the Royal Aero Club. The competition to take the coverted trophy took place over a course across the Solent on England's south coast as illustrated here. It really captures the feeling of excitement that flight had in peoples imaginations at the time - fast, sleek seaplanes speeding through the skies!

The programme is posted by kind permission of Paul Ross.

Text and image: mikeyashworth @ Flickr

For Brighter Homes

Barkers of Kensington, London

c.1935

via mikeyashworth @ Flickr

Winston Churchill's Life Pod

This photo comes from a 1947 issue of LIFE Magazine, and the caption explains that Churchill's doctors recommended that he never fly above 8,000 feet. That prohibition wasn't possible, since Churchill often needed to take off for Washington, Moscow, Yalta, or Casablanca on a moment's notice. Fortunately, though, Churchill had a special plane assigned for his transport, so a pressure chamber could be built right into the plane.

The chamber kept the pressure inside the pod at the equivalent of 5,000 feet, while still allowing Churchill to enjoy his favorite vice: a good cigar. The air circulation system was built with the globetrotting smoker in mind.

(io9)

Chemical Trio

England's biggest demonstration of its readiness to go through a gas attack was staged, March 16, 1938, when 2,000 volunteers in Birmingham donned gas masks and went through an elaborate drill. These three firemen were fully equipped, from rubber boots to masks, for the mock gas "invasion". (AP Photo)

Wingless Hydroplane

This hydroplane is part of the R.A.F. rescue service in the Middle East. It operates on the lakes of the Nile Delta for the assistance of pilots who may make forced landings in the water. Consisting of a cabin mounted on seaplane floats it is driven by an aircraft engine and propeller mounted in the stern and steered by an aircraft rudder. There are also rudders on each of the floats. The top speed of the craft is about fifteen knots. Photo taken on March 11, 1942.

(AP Photo)

Cadbury Annual, 1928

Another in the series of Cadbury's "Annuals" issued in the 1920s, many of which have striking artwork and this is no exception. Cadbury's often employed well-known graphic designers and artists for their publications - however, I can't find any clues as to this artist, "Maurice C Williams".

Image & text: mikeyashworth @ Flickr

Douglas Motorcycles and Sidecars

View of the Motor Shop at Kingswood, Bristol. 1920

Transport for a courting couple

Images via brizzle born and bred @ Flickr

Stop the Killer

British immunisation campaign poster by Reginald Mount

1943

Scanned and retouched by Paul Malon @ Flickr

Their Finest Hour

Pat Keely, c. 1942

Two Soldiers

Cecil Beaton

Two Chinese soldiers wearing gas masks at Pihu Military Training Centre in South Eastern China

1944

(IWM)

Wind in Aberdeen

Photo by e_alnak @ Flickr

Rosemount Square (actually horse shoe shaped) was a social experiment which grew from an exploration of what a modern tenement could be like, a far cry from the then typical tenement building of the Scottish cities. The building was inspired by visits to social housing in Europe. Rosemount Square was largely designed by Leo Durnin under Alexander Buchanan Gardner at the City Architect’s Department. It is one of the last granite load bearing buildings in Aberdeen (as opposed to using a steel frame). It is Grade A listed.

Included in the building cost were three sculptured panels by Thomas Huxley-Jones representing Rain Wind, and Cold but only Wind (above) and Rain were completed, in an effort to save money.

Info:Alan Cooper via geograph

Two Hippos

1935 Leyland Hippo. The British Commercial Vehicle Museum

1935 Leyland Hippo

Photos by homer----simpson @ Flickr

The Empire Port

A pamphlet issued for the 1938 Empire Exhibition in Glasgow to extol the values of the Docks at Southampton - the Southern Railway were mighty proud of these important port installations and made the claim that they were the Empire port. The image show the 'new' Western Docks, the massive quays that substantially extended the port's facilities and that opened in 1934.

via mickeyashworth @ Flickr