Comments on: On Top Of Britannic House With Lew Tassell

By: Clive Barton

Clive Barton — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 21:18:35 +0000

Very interesting pictures bringing back lots of happy memories of working in BP House Milton Court in 1969 – 73 period . I visited this week and the area is almost beyond recognition.

I was in the Operations Department of a Computer Bureau taken over by BP who then moved the Computer centre part from the West End in to BP House. The days of punch cards , paper and magnetic tapes !

Worked on shifts covering 24 hours / 7 days a week with daytime meals in the BP House restaurant ( got in to trouble for calling it a canteen) and evening meals in Britannic House.

I remember the public weighbridge , the Brewery and it’s horses and St Pauls Tavern( think that was the name of the pub on corner of Milton Street and Chiswell Road ) . Any pictures of those from that period?

In olde age,now regret not taking pictures of our everyday surroundings

By: Louise

Louise — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 20:44:14 +0000

I worked at Britannic House in the 80’s. Loved the staff shop and brilliant lunch for 5p (glass of wine extra) lol. What I am desperate to remember is the name of the pub that was in the square. Please can someone help me?? Thanks Louise

By: Mary o Doherty

Mary o Doherty — Sat, 06 Jun 2020 21:49:17 +0000

I worked for bp finance in britannic house in 1988/89. I remember there was a fast lift and a slow lift.

By: Alastair Cumming

Alastair Cumming — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 15:48:01 +0000

Great photos. I used to show visitors round the building and to the viewing floor on a Saturday in the late 60s!

By: mlaiuppa

mlaiuppa — Sat, 29 Sep 2018 19:29:16 +0000

Too bad there are no contemporary photos for comparison. I have a book of my own city. A “Then and Now” book that shows vintage photos, then the same photo taken from the same spot currently.

I think it is a powerful tool to be used when seeking changes to redevelopment plans and curbing excessive destruction. When you see what you had and then lost, it can put the brakes on. Likewise, when you see what blight there was that was replaced with something both pleasing and functional, it can be celebrated.

I’d still like to see brakes put on that entire Bethnal Green project and a halt to the destruction of the Mulberry. If laws and regulations have been broken by the developers, they should not be allowed to profit from it and continue their unbridled destruction.

By: Colin Cohen

Colin Cohen — Mon, 24 Sep 2018 08:50:19 +0000

I was reminded to look back at this post by his magnificent night photos posted today.

In particular the photo above ‘Looking west towards Old Bailey and Trafalgar Sq’ has a certain irony in that it looks down on Shell-Mex House designed by my grandfather, Ernest Joseph. BP’s Britannic House, which never looked good to me, but is improved by its recent makeover was designed by F Milton Cashmore. He was my grandfather’s junior partner, who became senior partner at Josephs when my grandfather died. Some time after my grandfather died Cashmore, and then his widow, started to claim that the latter had also designed Shell-Mex House.

All the original drawings that I have seen at the RIBA just say ‘Josephs’ and were not signed, this being the way at the time.

Whoever designed Shell-Mex House it has certainly stood the test of time better than Britannic House and has great views from the clock tower though clearly not as far reaching as those from Brittanic House

By: Malcolm

Malcolm — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 08:19:19 +0000

I worked in Britannic House in the 1970’s, before these pictures were taken. I was one of the team of Post Office Telephone engineers who were permanently on-site. This was before the digital age when telephone switchboards were old-fashioned electro-mechanical beasts with plugs and cords, and buildings like Britannic House had teams of telephone operators manning the banks of manual switchboards. We used to get up on the roof quite a lot in the summer, the view was wonderful. When the NatWest Tower was built I was transferred there for a while. I went up on the roof there, too. I can proudly say that I installed the fireman’s telephone on the roof of NatWest Tower! I have photographs of London taken from NatWest Tower and the skyline of London was very different then, very few tall buildings existed, although London Wall had the three monoliths along the north side and there was the Hong Kong and Shanghai bank building at 99 Bishopsgate. Now it’s hard to see the sky from the City of London streets. It’s a shame that London has lost much of its personality and history to developers and become just another city of glittering glass fingers that grow ever taller, more aggressive and remote from the ancient streets of our city. I remember when St Paul’s Cathedral was the tallest building in London and I wish it were still. Great pictures, as always.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 08:12:11 +0000

I worked in this amazing building in the nineties. The below ground plant rooms were huge and always reminded me of ships engine rooms.

There is /was? a ventilation shaft through the centre of the building. Special forces people would use this for abseiling practice.

By: Georgina Briody

Georgina Briody — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 08:04:06 +0000

Thank you for the memories.

By: Rab Bennetts

Rab Bennetts — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 22:09:17 +0000

Great photos. I was working on the design of the Finsbury Avenue and Broadgate developments at that time. The cranes beside Broad Street car park bring memories flooding back. It was the beginning of huge change to a largely derelict part of London. Can someone take the same pictures now?