A huge fire ravaged Alexandra Palace in Muswell Hill, London on 9th June, 1873 - just 16 days after it had opened, on Queen Victoria’s birthday, as ‘the People’s Palace’. A single burning ember is thought to have caused the blaze.

125 firefighters, in horse-drawn and steam-powered fire engines, had to climb 7 miles uphill, and by the time they got there, the building was engulfed in flames. But, almost immediately, a decision was taken to rebuild it. That’s Victorian stoicism for you.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly peruse the surprisingly gaudy programme of planned events for the exhibition space’s opening season; explain how a ‘people’s’ palace came to be named after Royalty anyway; and reveal the remarkable resilience of Henry Willis’ giant organ… 

Further Reading:

• ‘9 June 1873: Alexandra Palace burns down’ (MoneyWeek, 2015): https://moneyweek.com/395048/9-june-1873-alexandra-palace-burns-down

• ‘A Look Back in Time’ (Alexandra Palace official website): https://www.alexandrapalace.com/our-history/timeline/

• ‘Alexandra Palace London [4K] - DJI MAVIC PRO’ (FlyBy, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cool4TxpaQ

#Victorian #UK #London

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.

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