Childhood Gallery

Playground JLP01_10_46030

NATIONAL INDOOR ARENA, KING EDWARDS ROAD, BIRMINGHAM. A view of the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham during construction, taken from the west, with two children at a playground in the foreground.
I/N is recorded next to this image in Laing's negative register, signifying that it is an internegative. It appears to have been copied from the original in July 1990 and was probably taken shortly beforehand. The image was supplied by Allan Sloan, a regional marketing manager for Laing's Midland Division.
The £50m Design and Construct contract for the National Indoor Arena (NIA) was awarded to the Laing Midlands Division by Birmingham City Council in January 1989. It was officially opened on 4th October 1991 by athlete Linford Christie. At the time of opening, it was the largest indoor arena in the UK and had capacity for approximately 12,000 spectators. The arena has been renamed multiple times throughout its history. Originally the National Indoor Arena (October 1991 to December 2014), it later became known as The Barclaycard Arena (December 2014 to August 2017), Arena Birmingham (September 2017 to April 2020), and Utilita Arena Birmingham (April 2020 to present)

© Historic England Archive

Ice cream JLP01_09_880405

Laing Sports Ground, Rowley Lane, Elstree, Barnet, Greater London. A little girl in a woollen hat eating an ice cream cone and holding her father's hand at the 1988 Family Day at Laing's Sports Ground.
Attractions at that year's Family Day included; a parade of vintage cars, helicopter rides, plate smashing, stalls, an It's a Knockout style competition and tennis and six-a-side football tournaments. The event was opened by John Conteh, former world light heavy weight champion and ended with a barbecue and disco. This photograph appeared in the August 1988 edition of Team spirit, the Laing company newsletter

© Historic England Archive

Concrete play area JLP01_08_075900

Greenmeadow, Cwmbran, Torfaen, WALES. Children playing on sculptures in a children's play area on the Greenmeadow housing estate.
The negative register records this image as being Cwmbran Site 2 off of Ty-Gwyn Road, which was a project for the Cwmbran Development Corporation. Cwmbran was designated as a new town in 1949 under the New Towns Act of 1946. The town was intended to provide new employment opportunities in the south eastern section of the South Wales Coalfield

© Historic England Archive. John Laing Photographic Collection