Knit for Britain from Above

source

Knit for Britain from Above 

Returning to another series of articles that previously appeared on Eclectic Ephemera you may recall the posts from 2011 and 2012 about the creation of the wonderful online history resource Britain From Above, which aims to catalogue and digitise over 90,000 aerial photographs of Britain taken between 1919 and 1953.  By the sounds of things the project is going well and all 95,000 images should be available at the end of the 4-year project, in 2014.  It really is a fascinating site and I urge you all to check it out if you haven't already.

Now I see that the Britain From Above people have this week started a jolly little wheeze that should appeal to the [many] knitters who I know make up my readership.  I have to say I didn't realise that it was World-Wide Knit In Public Week (I have to admit I sometimes think these things are thought up on the spur of the moment by people with a vested interest and too much time on their hands - I mean, National Sausage Week, really?!) but hurrah nonetheless.  Although I'm sure those of you who do knit do so in public any day of the year here's an opportunity to have a bit of fun and get a bit involved in the Britain From Above project.

source

The team behind the site invite you to knit an aeroplane (they even helpfully provide a pattern if you don't have one of your own) and then, finding an historic aerial photo of an area near you, take a snap of your knitted aircraft in the same spot and post it on the website.  It sounds like a splendid way to get out and about and, as the site says, "showcase your knitting skills and find out more about the history of the place you live in".  Not to mention raising the profile of the Britain From Above project a notch or two in a wonderfully clever way.

So how about it, then?  Any knitting-wizards out there fancy knocking up a little flying machine and maybe taking a pic or two?  If anyone does have a go, do let me know on here!

Vintage aerial photography of Britain

Aerofilms Ltd. DH60 Moth at Hendon, 1928.  Image courtesy of Britain from Above.

Yet more archival material now available online - aren't we being wonderfully spoilt of late?!

Britain from Above: English Heritage unveils thousands of fascinating aerial images

Last year I blogged about the beginnings of English Heritage's latest project Britain from Above which, as the name suggests, features several thousand images of Britain taken from the air.  Interesting enough, but the clincher is the fact that these photographs were taken between 1919 and 1953.  Now the dedicated website is live and you can see parts of the British Isles from the air in a totally new and different way - in the past!

What Britain used to look like from the air

Just one year after the end of the First World War and only 16 years after the first powered flight, pilots Francis Lewis Wills and Claude Grahame-White founded Aerofilms Ltd. and took to the skies to photograph the United Kingdom from a never-before-seen vantage point - the air.  It is simply fascinating to see locations - areas one can be familiar with today - looking so very different during the 1920s and '30s, in their first appearance from an aerial platform.  Already I've found images of local places, such as my local railway station, that give a glorious insight into the life of the area during the first half of the 20th Century. 

Wickford railway station - from where for 10 years I commuted to London - in 1928.
Image courtesy of Britain from Above.

Early aerial photos of the UK go online

Truly this is a remarkable resource and one I feel sure I shall continue to delve into for a long time to come.  There really is something for every amateur (and, dare I say, professional) historian here - I can almost guarantee that there will be at least one picture of a place near you - and things aren't finished yet as barely 20% of the 95,000 images in the 1919-53 collection have been digitised so far.  Over the course of the next four years English Heritage aim to turn the project into one of the premier sources of early British aerial photography, and I for one can't wait!

Southend seafront, Marine Gardens, pier entrance, Palace Hotel and the High Street, 1920.
Image courtesy of Britain from Above.

Vintage aerial photography of Britain

We can help in the creation of this ultimate collection too by sharing memories and knowledge of locations, many photos of which have little or no information attached to them.  One can sign up for free, join groups, annotate pictures and even download them!  This is one of the most magnificent archives I've come across in recent years, deserves to flourish and is possible thanks to Heritage Lottery and other private donations for which we should be inordinately grateful.  Happy browsing!