Varsity Line - Revision history

Archiblog at 16:21, 26 February 2025

2025-02-26T16:21:14Z

Archiblog at 09:22, 19 February 2025

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Archiblog at 11:20, 31 January 2025

2025-01-31T11:20:44Z

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	[[Category:Articles_needing_more_work]]		[[Category:Articles_needing_more_work]]

Archiblog at 11:20, 31 January 2025

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Archiblog at 06:31, 17 January 2025

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Archiblog at 16:07, 9 January 2025

2025-01-09T16:07:01Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:07, 9 January 2025
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	[https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Potteries_Thinkbelt_study:_Further_ongoing_research Potteries Thinkbelt study: Further ongoing research] [https://louisdesoissons.com/welwyn-garden-city/ https://louisdesoissons.com/welwyn-garden-city/]		[https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Potteries_Thinkbelt_study:_Further_ongoing_research Potteries Thinkbelt study: Further ongoing research] [https://louisdesoissons.com/welwyn-garden-city/ https://louisdesoissons.com/welwyn-garden-city/]
		+
		+	-----
		+	== 1898 -1914 GARDEN CITY MOVEMENT ==
		+
		+	{\|
		+	\|width="50%"\|
		+	In 1966, Cedric Price wrote:—
		+
		+	* "I doubt the relevance of the concepts of Town Centre, Town and Balanced Community. Calculated suburban sprawl sounds good to me."
		+	* (CP 'Life-conditioning', AD, October 1966, p.483)
		+	\|width="50%"\|
		+	In 1971, Cedric Price wrote:—
		+
		+	* "The effects of a long-life dwelling philosophy and its assocated manufacture, land tenure and financing structure can be seen to have [...] undesirable effects..."
		+	* (CP 'Housing', AD, October 1971, p.620)
		+	\|}
		+
		+	Two extremely influential architectural conceptions emerged from this period, namely:—
		+
		+	# the Garden City
		+	# semi-detached houses
		+
		+	For example:—
		+
		+	{\|
		+	\|width="50%"\|
		+	{\|
		+	\|width="50%"\| [[File:Item_25700_-_Garden_City_Concept_by_Ebenezer_Howard.jpg\|link=File:Item_25700_-_Garden_City_Concept_by_Ebenezer_Howard.jpg]]• Ebenezeer Howard's diagram illustrating the Garden City concept ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_city_movement#/media/File:Garden_City_Concept_by_Howard.jpg Wikipedia])
		+	\|width="50%"\|
		+	[[File:Item_25706_-_Welwyn_Garden_City.jpg\|link=File:Item_25706_-_Welwyn_Garden_City.jpg]]
		+
		+	• Louis de Soissons' vision for the new town of Welwyn Garden City [*]
		+	\|}
		+
		+	• The original conception (left) and its first application (right)I
		+
		+	[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_city_movement#Conception Learn More]
		+	\|width="50%"\|
		+	Notes
		+
		+	In 1898 Ebenezer Howard published '[https://archive.org/details/tomorrowpeaceful00howa To-morrow: a Peaceful Path to Real Reform]'.
		+
		+	* "Howard's [https://archive.org/details/tomorrowpeaceful00howa To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform] sold enough copies to warrant a second edition, now titled [https://archive.org/details/bwb_P8-CCX-464 Garden Cities of To-morrow]. This success of this book provided him the support necessary to pursue the chance to bring his vision into reality. Howard believed that all people agreed the overcrowding and deterioration of cities was one of the troubling issues of their time. He quotes a number of respected thinkers and their disdain of cities. Howard's garden city concept combined the town and country in order to provide the working class an alternative to working on farms or in "crowded, unhealthy cities".
		+	* ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_city_movement#Conception Wikipedia])
		+
		+	Thus a utopian vision influenced the relation between social aspirations and '[https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Architecture architecture]' namely:—
		+
		+	* the '[https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Garden_cities Garden City]'.
		+	\|}
		+
		+	{\|
		+	\|width="50%"\| [[File:Item_25713_-_Letchworth_Garden_City.png\|link=File:Item_25713_-_Letchworth_Garden_City.png]]• Letchworth Garden City’s original plan by Parker and Unwin - click [[File:Item_25704_-_Charles_Voysey_-_Norney_Grange.jpg\|link=https://urbanutopias.net/2018/11/01/letchworth/]]• Norney, Shackleford, Surrey - Photo by Duncan McNeill
		+	\|width="50%"\|
		+	Notes
		+
		+	According to Jack Warshaw in a talk on conservation at the Architectural Association:—
		+
		+	* "Many were influenced by Voysey's designs, some were inspired and others stole and debased them. [...] From 1904, Barry Parker (1867-1947) and Raymond Unwin (1863-1940) planned and designed many houses in Letchworth, the first garden city, in the Voysey manner."
		+	* (Jack Warshaw, '[https://www.voyseysociety.org/voysey/biography/architecture.html Voysey's buildings]')
		+
		+	[https://www.hertsmemories.org.uk/content/herts-history/towns-and-villages/letchworth_garden_city/ourletchworth_people/architects/barry-parker-and-raymond-unwin Learn More]
		+
		+	According to James Dunnett:—
		+
		+	* "It was arguable that (Charles Voysey's) influence as a designer flourished – in the form of that widespread motif of interwar suburban housing, the two-storey curved bay window topped by a gable, seen especially on semi-detached houses, which seems to owe its origins to another of Voysey’s finest houses, Norney, Surrey of 1897. Pevsner comments, ‘from the historian’s point of view it remains no small feat to have created the pattern for the vast majority of buildings carried out over a period of thirty years and more."
		+	* ([https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/reputations/cfa-voysey-1857-1941 The Architectural Review])
		+
		+	[https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/reputations/cfa-voysey-1857-1941 Learn More]
		+
		+	In 1897, Norney Grange, pictured left, was designed by Charles Voysey.
		+
		+	However, in 1949, Nikolaus Pevsner wrote:—
		+
		+	* "...in Britain at least, it has become too much of a standard example ineptly imitated by hundreds of speculative builders all along the arterial roads and all over the suburbs."
		+	* (Nikolaus Pevsner, 1949, '[https://archive.org/details/pioneersofmodern0000niko/page/94/mode/2up Pioneers of Modern Design]', p.94)
		+
		+	Thus a particular form of domestic architecture influenced the relation between social aspirations and architecture, namely:—
		+
		+	* "semi-detached houses".
		+	\|}
		+
		+	-----
		+	⇒ [https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/DOMESTIKIT:_UK BACK TO TOP]
		+
		+	== [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_in_the_United_Kingdom#19141939 1914-1939] COUNCIL HOUSING ==
		+
		+	{\|
		+	\| Critique
		+	\| Critique
		+	\|}
		+
		+	According to Wikipedians:—
		+
		+	* "The rapid expansion of housing was a major success story of the interwar years, 1919–1939. The total housing stock in England and Wales was 7,600,000 in 1911; 8,000,000 in 1921; 9,400,000 in 1931; and 11,300,000 in 1939, an average construction rate of over 180,000 houses per year between 1921 and 1939.
		+	* [...]
		+	* In England and Wales, 214,000 multi-unit council buildings were built by 1939; making the Ministry of Health largely a ministry of housing. Council housing accounted for 10% of the housing stock in the UK by 1938, peaking at 32% in 1980, and dropping to 18% by 1996, where it held steady for the next two decades."
		+	* ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_in_the_United_Kingdom#1914-1939 Wikipedia], 2024)
		+	* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_in_the_United_Kingdom#1914-1939 Learn More]
		+
		+	{\|
		+	\|width="50%"\|
		+	[[File:Item_25707_-_Semi-detached_houses_on_the_Sunray_Estate%2C_Dulwich.png\|link=File:Item_25707_-_Semi-detached_houses_on_the_Sunray_Estate,_Dulwich.png]]
		+
		+	• Semi-detached houses, Sunray Estate, Dulwich
		+
		+	[https://www.dulwichsociety.com/the-journal/spring-2014/sunray-estate Learn More]
		+	\|width="50%"\|
		+	Notes
		+
		+	Following the 'Homes fit for Heroes' campaign legislation, local authorities were required to survey the housing needs in their areas, submit plans for development, and required to provide working-class housing (previously it was at their discretion). Central government made subsidies available to cover losses. [*]
		+
		+	For example, according to Bernard Nurse:—
		+
		+	* "The Ministry of Health took over responsibility for housing with the aim of improving not just the quantity but also the quality of new buildings. Homes should be ‘fit’ for heroes, constructed on garden city principles like those built before the war in Letchworth Garden City and Hampstead Garden Suburb. There were to be no more terraces on straight roads, but instead small groups of cottage style houses laid out on tree-lined curved roads or cul-de-sacs with green areas. More generous interior spaces were to be provided than found in older working class housing. The policy was set out in a Housing Manual issued in 1919."
		+	* (The Dulwich Society, 2014)
		+
		+	In 1923, the Casino Estate was incorporated into the Sunray Estate and the two housing schemes are now highly regarded as ‘one of the most celebrated products of the “Homes fit for Heroes” campaign’ (Buildings of England) and a fine example of a smaller garden city development.
		+
		+	nb The estate was designated a conservation area in 2009.
		+	\|}
		+
		+	{\|
		+	\|width="50%"\|
		+	[[File:Item_25708_-_Mile_Cross_Estate%2C_Norwich.png\|link=File:Item_25708_-_Mile_Cross_Estate,_Norwich.png]]
		+
		+	• Mile Cross Estate, Norwich, aerial view - © Historic England. EPW021219.
		+
		+	[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_Cross_Estate,_Norwich Learn More]
		+	\|width="50%"\|
		+	Notes
		+
		+	According to Wikipedians:—
		+
		+	* "Mile Cross was one of the first housing estates in Norwich, and was built in the 1920s as part of the "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homes_fit_for_heroes Homes fit for heroes]" scheme. It was planned on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_suburb garden suburb] principles by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_planner town planner] Professor Adshead and involved four prominent local architects; Stanley Wearing, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Frederic_Scott A F Scott], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Skipper George Skipper] and S J Livock.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_Cross_Estate,_Norwich#cite_note-Mile-2 [2]] The estate was developed as a community and included infrastructure such as schools, churches, shops, pubs, community centres, allotments and public open spaces."
		+	\|}
		+
		+	-----
		+	== 1945- ==
		+
		+	kkk

	[[Category:Articles_needing_more_work]]		[[Category:Articles_needing_more_work]]

Archiblog at 16:11, 7 January 2025

2025-01-07T16:11:28Z

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Archiblog at 16:26, 20 March 2024

2024-03-20T16:26:35Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:26, 20 March 2024
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	• Lords Bridge		• Lords Bridge
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	• [https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Table Table] 2: Disused stations on the Bedford-Cambridge section of the Varsity Line.		• [https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Table Table] 2: Disused stations on the Bedford-Cambridge section of the Varsity Line.
		+	\|}

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Archiblog at 11:00, 20 March 2024

2024-03-20T11:00:19Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:00, 20 March 2024
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	CamBedRaiRoad (2024) '[http://www.cambedrailroad.org/CBRR_guidance CBRR's Guidance Notes and more detailed maps]', CamBedRailRoad.		CamBedRaiRoad (2024) '[http://www.cambedrailroad.org/CBRR_guidance CBRR's Guidance Notes and more detailed maps]', CamBedRailRoad.
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		+	-----
		+	--[[User:Archiblog\|Archiblog]] 11:00, 20 Mar 2024 (BST)

	[[Category:Articles_needing_more_work]]		[[Category:Articles_needing_more_work]]

Archiblog at 10:59, 20 March 2024

2024-03-20T10:59:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:59, 20 March 2024
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	== Introduction ==		== Introduction ==

−	When I first started my slot as [https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Norman_Fellows;_Anticipatory_Designer_and_prolific_archi-blogger. Designing Buildings' Guest Editor] I searched the site using the term 'Varsity Line'. There's a particular and personal reason for this: I worked in Oxford and lived In Cambridge (late nineties) and there was no direct railway route linking these university cities - in this particular case the line between Bicester and Oxford was closed to passengers and the line from Bedford (Goldington Power Station) to the junction at Cambridge was closed completely. In fact, I don't think anyone had considered an alternative to road..	+	When I first started my slot as [https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Norman_Fellows;_Anticipatory_Designer_and_prolific_archi-blogger. Designing Buildings' Guest Editor] I searched the site using the term 'Varsity Line'. There's a particular and personal reason for this: I worked in Oxford and lived In Cambridge (late nineties) and there was no direct railway route linking these university cities - in this particular case the line between Bicester and Oxford was closed to passengers and the line from Bedford (Goldington Power Station) to the junction at Cambridge was closed completely. In fact, I don't think anyone had seriously considered an alternative to travel by road.

	The results of my search on the site stated:—		The results of my search on the site stated:—
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	My next step was to search the web using the same term - see Appendix.		My next step was to search the web using the same term - see Appendix.

−	Below are my reasons for having chosen two ~~particular~~ articles.	+	Below are my reasons for having chosen two articles describing the Varsity Line.

	== Why have I chosen the following articles? ==		== Why have I chosen the following articles? ==
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	== Wikipedia contributors (last edited 12 March 2024, at 12:16) '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varsity_Line# Varsity Line]' ==		== Wikipedia contributors (last edited 12 March 2024, at 12:16) '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varsity_Line# Varsity Line]' ==

−	The Varsity Line was the main railway line that linked the English university cities of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford Oxford] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge Cambridge]. The article draws my attention because of my interest in the need to reconstruct the line as part of an egalitarian educational system.	+	The Varsity Line was the main railway line that linked the English university cities of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford Oxford] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge Cambridge] before January 1968. The article draws my attention because of my interest in the need to reconstruct the line as part of an egalitarian educational system.

	According to the Wikipedia article entitled '[https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Varsity_Line Varsity Line]', the [https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Railway railway] was [https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Built built] by three local schemes, namely:—		According to the Wikipedia article entitled '[https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Varsity_Line Varsity Line]', the [https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Railway railway] was [https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Built built] by three local schemes, namely:—
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−	== Appendix ==	+	== Appendix (incomplete) ==

	Frearson, A. (2017-11-30) '[https://www.dezeen.com/2017/11/30/cambridge-milton-keynes-oxford-corridor-good-design-architecture-uk-silicon-valley/ Oxford and Cambridge need good design to become "UK's Silicon Valley" say architects]', dezeen.		Frearson, A. (2017-11-30) '[https://www.dezeen.com/2017/11/30/cambridge-milton-keynes-oxford-corridor-good-design-architecture-uk-silicon-valley/ Oxford and Cambridge need good design to become "UK's Silicon Valley" say architects]', dezeen.