Edwardian Gallery

Butlers Wharf, Shad Thames BB87_09745

BUTLER'S WHARF, Shad Thames, London. A cargo of bananas in specially ventilated crates is unloaded and transferred into the warehouse via a conveyor belt while two foremen in bowler hats look on. A tally is kept in the hut in the centre of the picture. From the Butlers Wharf Collection: some time before 1910 the Directors of Butlers Wharf Ltd, commissioned a series of photographs detailing aspects of the company's work

© Historic England

St Giles Fair, Oxford

St Giles Fair, Oxford, Oxfordshire, September 1905.
Photographed by Henry William Taunt (1842-1922) on silver gelatin glass plate negative. Despite the bustle of St Giles's Fair, the photographer Henry Taunt has inevitably attracted attention perched, presumably on a stepladder, above the fairgoers. Employees of the ornately decorated Taylor's Royal Electric Coliseum are drumming up business, and a Fried Fish and Chip Potato wagon stands beside the gas lamp. St Giles'€™s Fair had evolved from a parish wake first mentioned in 1624 into a major amusement fair with special trains bringing visitors from far afield. Taunt photographed the fair from the late 1860s, hoping of course to sell many images, and also out of personal interest

© Historic England

Lyons Popular Cafe BL18609

THE POPULAR CAFE, Piccadilly, London. Restaurant interior from the entrance with tables set and ready for customers. The start of a new restaurant venture for Lyons, the Popular Cafe opened to the public on 10 October 1904 with seating for 2000. This is where the band leader Victor Sylvester started his career by providng musical accompaniment for the diners every afternoon. It closed in July 1939 at the outset of the second world war. Photographed by Bedford Lemere for J Lyons & Co a few days before the grand opening

© Historic England