Guest post by local historian Philip Grant
The BEE Palace of Industry at night – a 1924 postcard (Source: Brent Archives)
[Standing in the same spot now, you would be looking at the front of Brent
Civic Centre!]
I began the year by explaining why I think we should commemorate the centenary of the British Empire Exhibition in 2024. It is an opportunity to consider (or reconsider) our views on “Empire”, learn more about the history of the British Empire and its effect on the lives of the people in the lands it acquired (often by force), and collect the stories of families who have come from across the former “Empire”, and beyond, to live in Brent today.
It is also an opportunity to discover more about the Exhibition itself, an event which put a small, little-known Urban District in Middlesex on the world map. People came to Wembley in 1924 from across the world to take part in the Exhibition, and 17 million visitors flocked to Wembley Park to see it.
Crowds around the Burma Pavilion on the Whit Monday bank holiday, 1924.
To help you get a feel for what took place at Wembley Park a century ago, there is a small exhibition at Kingsbury Library this summer. I will also be giving an illustrated talk, in conjunction with that display, at a free Kingsbury Library coffee morning event on Tuesday 9 July, 11am to 12noon. Details are on the poster below (which includes a “link” to the Eventbrite site where you can reserve your seat for the talk). I hope you enjoy these events!
Philip Grant
