X-Nico

8 unusual facts about Festival of Britain


1950–51 Birmingham City F.C. season

As part of the Festival of Britain, friendly matches were arranged at the end of this season between British clubs and teams from other parts of the British Isles and from continental Europe.

As part of the Festival of Britain, friendly matches were arranged at the end of this season between British clubs and against teams from continental Europe.

Elstow

In 1950, Major Simon Whitbread gave Moot Hall and Elstow green to Bedfordshire County Council, which restored the building to its original medieval form, as their contribution to the Festival of Britain.

Gilbert Briggs

His decision to book the Royal Festival Hall, recently built for the Festival of Britain, in 1954 was considered very brave, but the event was sold out in four days.

Patrick Gwynne

His entry in the restaurant competition at the Festival of Britain led to a commission for the Crescent Restaurant at Battersea Park.

Tasmanian Government Railways X class

No members of the class were named after entering service, however X16 was named Festival of Britain in 1951 after it was displayed at the aforementioned exhibition.

Three Shakespeare Songs

In 1951 the British Federation of Music Festivals (of which Vaughan Williams was president) held its annual National Competitive Festival during the Festival of Britain.

Trowell

Herbert Morrison selected Trowell as the "Festival Village" for the 1951 Festival of Britain, as a typical example of British rural life.


By the Pricking of My Thumbs

The time in which this adaption is set is somewhere between the late 1940s and the early 1950s, but unclear and slightly inconsistent: a US B-17 (which left the UK soon after the war and was out of US service by 1949) overflies the village, yet US airmen wear the blue USAF uniform introduced in 1949, and there is also a 1951 Festival of Britain poster in the village shop.

Commonwealth Institute

The exhibition designer was James Gardner, who worked on the Dome of Discovery in the influential Festival of Britain of 1951, and the gardens were designed by Sylvia Crowe.

Kathleen Kenyon

Initial finding were first viewed by the public in the Dome of Discovery at the Festival of Britain 1951 with a reconstruction drawing by Alan Sorrell.

Ralph Tubbs

Well known amongst the buildings he designed was the Dome of Discovery at the successful Festival of Britain on the South Bank in London in 1951.


see also

Saint Mungo Cup

The Corporation of Glasgow who had organised the tournament and provided the cup named after Glasgow's patron saint as their donation to the Festival of Britain were left red faced when the triumphant players and manager Jimmy McGrory discovered, on closer examination, that the cup was decorated with ornate life belts and mermaids.