Sunday, August 22, 2004

When Battersea Was At Wembley

Battersea power station was not orginally designed as a power station. It was, in fact, built as the world's biggest pipe organ, built for impressing visitors to the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924. Its four mighty pipes where capable of blowing notes of 11,000 decibels, and had to be operated by a team of 300 stevedores labouring unceaselessly in the heat and clamour of the keyboard room (in this picture, two operators take a break before a particularly difficult change in octave). Operating in full flight, the Empire Wembley Organ could smash windows as far away as Swiss Cottage and is know to have driven three people insane.

The military spotted its potential immediately, and diverting funds away from the nascent tank-build programme to develop mighty portable War Organs to deafen and terrify enemy armies. Lord Kitchener foresaw ringing britain with a chain of mighty organs to destroy approaching fleets, but sadly the onset of the Great Depression meant this was never to be. However, the military continued to work on the psychological might and power of the organ and enhance the technology, which is why every British squaddie now carries a Kazoo at all times.

After the fair, though, the Empire Wembley Organ fell out of use, and the land it occupied was needed for other purposes. A debate, echoing the one today, raged over how it should be dealt with. The last straw came in 1934, when a boiler explosion during a performance of the Flight of the Bumble Bee killed seven workers and unnerved five others. The organ was schedule for demolition; it was only when its potential for generating electricity was pointed out that it was instead moved to its current location and wired to the grid.

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

teacher ebook http://audiobookscollection.co.uk/Nlp-Workbook-A-Practical-Guide-to-Achieving-the-Results-You-Want/p187110/ asterisk future of telephony ebook [url=http://audiobookscollection.co.uk/es/The-Gentiles-and-the-Gentile-Mission-in-Luke-Acts/p227758/]her majesty's wizard ebook free[/url] kresley cole ebook

4:59 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the green millionaire ebook http://audiobookscollection.co.uk/fr/Learning-Disabilities-The-Ultimate-Teen-Guide/p219657/ ebook business software [url=http://audiobookscollection.co.uk/Giving-Desert-Its-Due-Social-Justice-and-Legal-Theory/p228115/]ebook reader for vista[/url] ebook reader 5800

9:58 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

sleep learning software http://buyoem.co.uk/product-16155/Music-Man-Mac server or software or adbe [url=http://buyoem.co.uk/it/product-35538/Dossier-2-6-MacOSX]website construction software[/url] geo vision 7050 software
[url=http://buyoem.co.uk/category-100-102/Business?page=5]Business - Software Store[/url] best practices software development contract
[url=http://buyoem.co.uk/product-15467/EBoostr-PRO-2-0][img]http://buyoem.co.uk/image/1.gif[/img][/url]

8:55 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

gear player software http://buysoftwareonline.co.uk/information-7/FAQ#faq1 outsourcing custom software development web [url=http://buysoftwareonline.co.uk/es/sitemap]bit torrent software review[/url] who created the computer software
[url=http://buysoftwareonline.co.uk/category-11/System-Tools?page=4]System Tools - Software Store[/url] drop zone software
[url=http://buysoftwareonline.co.uk/product-31553/ShareTool-1-2-MAC][img]http://buyoem.co.uk/image/6.gif[/img][/url]

10:14 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

[url=http://onlinemedistore.com/products/synthroid.htm][img]http://onlinemedistore.com/11.jpg[/img][/url]
increase website traffic canadian internet pharmacy http://onlinemedistore.com/ saco hannaford pharmacy hours [url=http://onlinemedistore.com/products/viagra-professional.htm]tom thumb pharmacy[/url]
pharmacy drugs and medications f fluconazole http://onlinemedistore.com/products/sumycin.htm canadian pet pharmacy [url=http://onlinemedistore.com/products/zyvox.htm]zyvox[/url]
board diflucan href pharmacy net top http://onlinemedistore.com/products/luvox.htm medication online pharmacy ultram [url=http://onlinemedistore.com/products/dulcolax.htm]ship email open purchase refill pharmacy closed day send today[/url]
humana medicare pharmacy network http://onlinemedistore.com/products/zerit.htm pharmacy call center [url=http://onlinemedistore.com/products/requip.htm]requip[/url]

2:22 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

[url=http://certifiedpharmacy.co.uk/products/kamagra.htm][img]http://onlinemedistore.com/10.jpg[/img][/url]
heb pharmacy mexia texas http://certifiedpharmacy.co.uk/products/adalat.htm compound pharmacy [url=http://certifiedpharmacy.co.uk/products/acticin.htm]pharmacy technician nevada[/url]
williams brothers pharmacy http://certifiedpharmacy.co.uk/products/chloramphenicol.htm cvs pharmacy chester nj [url=http://certifiedpharmacy.co.uk/contact.htm]contact[/url]
pharmacy internet communication future http://certifiedpharmacy.co.uk/products/floxin.htm eagle highland pharmacy [url=http://certifiedpharmacy.co.uk/products/eriacta.htm]monopril generic foreign pharmacy[/url]
rite aide pharmacy owego ny http://certifiedpharmacy.co.uk/products/prazosin.htm cvs pharmacy brandon fl [url=http://certifiedpharmacy.co.uk/products/cefadroxil.htm]cefadroxil[/url]

11:24 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

speed dating akron ohio [url=http://freeinternetdating.info/marriage/plot-synopsis-the-clandestine-marriage]plot synopsis the clandestine marriage[/url] filipina christian dating
dating a widower with teens http://freeinternetdating.info/matchmaking/catholic-single-matchmaking nail dating
who is rachel bilson dating [url=http://freeinternetdating.info/friendship/friendship-united-methodist-church-ohio]adventist dating heatherjen[/url] steve harvey dating game contestants

2:14 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

membership dating http://loveepicentre.com/success_stories/ dating for drugs
bareback dating [url=http://loveepicentre.com]online dating dating love attractive find[/url] chat dating all free
boxers dating training [url=http://loveepicentre.com/success_stories/]ex jehovah witness dating in va[/url] new orleans speed dating [url=http://loveepicentre.com/user/Locky/]Locky[/url] free discreet dating in uk

6:43 am  

Post a Comment

<< Home