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Chiswick...
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...3. 5,,1,10.46
The ground inside the dome is noticeably curved downward.

Also some odd brickwork in Wimbledon - what's the purpose of it? Maybe a
tree root used to go through there.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...52.84,,1,18.79

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John Rowland wrote:
Chiswick...
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...3. 5,,1,10.46
The ground inside the dome is noticeably curved downward.

Looks a bit like an ice house.

Aha, it is. http://openchiswick.squarespace.com/places-to-visit-/ says:
"the strange little semi-circular structure which can be seen in Grove
Park Terrace is all that remains of an ice house – a building used for
storing ice and for keeping food cool in the days before refrigeration.
It was originally a hollow brick dome covering a circular underground
chamber. This ice house probably belonged to the large mansion called
Sutton Court (demolished c 1900)."

And here it is Polish:
http://fotoforum.gazeta.pl/72,2,888,...,67347146.html

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

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In message , John Rowland
writes

Chiswick...
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...1364&panoid=xd
h7tS2mgnvBYYObY_AaBw&cbp=12,163.5,,1,10.46

The ground inside the dome is noticeably curved downward.

That's to help the water drain away - it's the remains of an ice house.
--
Paul Terry

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On May 13, 7:46*am, Arthur Figgis wrote:
John Rowland wrote:
Chiswick...
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...9,-0.271525&sp...
The ground inside the dome is noticeably curved downward.

Thanks again, John. These are always very interesting.

Looks a bit like an ice house.

Aha, it is.http://openchiswick.squarespace.com/...-visit-/*says:
"the strange little semi-circular structure which can be seen in Grove
Park Terrace is all that remains of an ice house – a building used for
storing ice and for keeping food cool in the days before refrigeration.
It was originally a hollow brick dome covering a circular underground
chamber. This ice house probably belonged to the large mansion called
Sutton Court (demolished c 1900)."

And here it is Polish:http://fotoforum.gazeta.pl/72,2,888,...,67347146.html

I am not exactly sure, but this photo from Poland (how did he find
it?) seems to have sparked quite a lot of comments.
My Polish is a little rusty since the collapse of communism, and I
could not get sense out of Google-translate. I wonder what those crazy
coal-crunchers are on about?

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On Wed, 13 May 2009, John Rowland wrote:

Chiswick...
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...3. 5,,1,10.46
The ground inside the dome is noticeably curved downward.

Also some odd brickwork in Wimbledon - what's the purpose of it? Maybe a
tree root used to go through there.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...52.84,,1,18.79

John, do you keep records of all these oddities? You've got enough to make
a glossy coffee-table book by now. All you'd need is to get someone (one
of the many UTLers with a decent camera and some spare time) to come on
board to do the photos, and for you to type up the results of your
inquiries.

I was in a bookshop the other day, and they had some book of London
oddities piled high and presumably selling like hot cakes (or expected
to), and that was about 70% things i knew about already. Rowland's
Gazetteer of London Curiosties (vol. I) would blow it out of the water.

tom

--
If it ain't broke, open it up and see what makes it so bloody special.

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(This seems a good thread to hijack)

The Times has a Archive photo in the Register section today, Wednesday.

"A new Control Tower for the buses at Victoria station" dated 1927 and
showing it towering over a 38A to Walthamstow.

Anyone tell me more ?

--
Mike D

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Tom Anderson wrote:
On Wed, 13 May 2009, John Rowland wrote:

Chiswick...
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...3. 5,,1,10.46
The ground inside the dome is noticeably curved downward.

Also some odd brickwork in Wimbledon - what's the purpose of it?
Maybe a tree root used to go through there.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...52.84,,1,18.79

John, do you keep records of all these oddities? You've got enough to
make a glossy coffee-table book by now. All you'd need is to get
someone (one of the many UTLers with a decent camera and some spare
time) to come on board to do the photos, and for you to type up the
results of your inquiries.

I take it you've never been impressed by *my* photos... anyway, since the
one thing that all of these have in common is that I'm baffled by them, I
would seem to be uniquely qualified to not write such a book. I might
contribute some to this page, though...
http://knowledgeoflondon.com/curiosities.html . I had no idea that French
cannon captured in the Battle Of Trafalgar were used as bollards! I still
don't have any clues about this exquisitely formed wooden bollard, though.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&.... 82,,2,12.31