Alexandra Palace
ALEXANDRA PALACE: Airship, balloon and kite launching site plus parachuting venue
NOTES: The first account of parachuting from ‘Ally Pally’ I have found was in Henry Dale’s book Early Flying Machines. “In the 1880s ‘Professor’ Baldwin, an American aeronaut, became well known for his daring parachute jumps. One such jump he made in 1888 at Alexandra Palace in London where he ascended to 7000ft beneath a balloon before sliding off the rope seat and descending under the parachute – an incredibly brave thing to do given the rudimentary nature of his apparatus.” A drawing illustrated in this book shows the ‘Professor’ simply hanging onto a ring, using just his hands, from which the parachute lines were attached.
Henry Dale also mentions two other pioneering parachuting attempts over London, both with fatal results, the first regarding the English watercolour painter, Robert Cocking. “In 1837 he picked up an idea for a stable parachute from the aeronautical pioneer and experimenter Sir George Cayley.
(My note: See BROMPTON HALL in YORKSHIRE for more info on Sir George Cayley, a man regarded by many as the 'grandfather' of fixed wing aviation).
The problem with the umbrella type was that it tended to swing violently, as the air trapped beneath spilled out from the edges. Cayley’s stable design was of an inverted cone shape, which righted itself under oscillation by the action of the increased air pressure on its lower side. Cocking’s embodiment of this design was made of material held in shape by rods, from which was suspended a basket for the parachutist to ride in. Unfortunately it was structurally unsound, the air flowing past it as it descended forced it to collapse, and the hapless Mr Cocking met his death.
A trial run with a sandbag for weight would have harmlessly pointed out this structural flaw, and Cocking must have been either supremely confident or incredibly stupid (or both) not to have tested his device first.”
This said, it is a rather unfair conclusion to reach as in those days the concept of making flight test experiments was barely realised. As Henry Dale points out; “The problem of swinging parachutes was subsequently solved by putting a hole at the apex of the canopy through which trapped air could escape.”
THE SECOND EXAMPLE
The second example concerned a Belgian, Vincent de Groof. “Around 1852, François Letur demonstrated a steerable parachute which he flew from a balloon to the ground. It is not clear if he was attempting to develop a useful flying machine, a safety device or a sport. Whatever his intention, it was brought to a premature end a couple of years later when the wind drove him into some trees and he was fatally injured.
In 1864 Vincent de Groof, a Belgian, devised a similar device to Letur’s and spent the following 10 years ‘perfecting’ his design. It had two 24-foot (7m) wings and a 20-foot tail, each of which could be controlled in flight. The idea was to parachute from a balloon in a predetermined direction. Unfortunately for de Groof, he had omitted to provide a mechanical stop to limit the upward swing of the wings – presumably thinking that the strength of his arms would be enough. This was not the case though, and when he was released from a balloon for the first time in July 1874 over London, the wings folded above him like a butterfly’s and he crashed to the ground and was killed.”
AUGUSTE GAUDRON
Based here around the turn of the 20th century, the balloonist, (or aeronaut as they were called in those days), was the Frenchman Auguste Gaudron. There may have been others using the site but Gaudron had a 'shed' here - and in those days in England at least, hangars were called sheds.
I have found a mention that in 1908 Gaudron flew a balloon non-stop from here to Novo Alexandrovsk in Russia. His previous two other attempts to beat the World distance record, (the first sadly ending prematurelyat FISHTOFT near Boston (LINCOLNSHIRE), and the second in Sweden in October 1907, were launched from CRYSTAL PALACE, LONDON.
He also built an airship for Dr F A Barton which was seen flying over London from Alexandra Palace in 1900 by Charles Cyril Turner who went on to write a fabulous book – Old Flying Days - first published in around 1927. And yes, I did manage to find a copy.
A CLAIM TO FAME?
It is said that this airship flight predates claims that the ‘Spencer’ airship was the first ‘British’ airship flown from CRYSTAL PALACE in 1902 by two years! Mr Turner certainly should know as he was a crew member on Gaudrons epic balloon flights. But, this photo of the Barton-Rawson airship, published in The Pageant of the Century by Oldhams Press in around 1933/34, is listed has taking place in 1903.
It has been a constant problem in researching this 'Guide'. Who can be believed? I had once thought, that being recent history, nigh on everything would have been, by now, mostly sorted and settled. How wrong can you be?
THE SAMUEL CODY INVOLVEMENT
Samuel Cody shared this shed with Gaudron for a while to build his first man carrying kite which Cody himself tested and not without mishap. Oddly enough, (as it seems to me), the ‘maiden’ flight in public was made in PLUMSTEAD. Then again, another report says Cody made his headquarters in the old banqueting hall at the Alexandra Palace from the 11th May 1903 until March 1904. This presumably doesn’t preclude him sharing a 'shed'' to make his kites with Gaudron?
On the 22nd January 1904 Cody held more ‘man-carrying’ kite demonstrations. It is claimed his son Leon rose to 2,000ft and later on Mr Dudley Barton, (said to be the son of the airship inventor - really?), and Mr Spencer, (son of the airship builder, not the artist Stanley Spencer), went up in a ‘man-lifter.’
ANOTHER 'ALLY PALLY' STORY
Perhaps the best description of ALEXANDRA PALACE in those days came from Women with Wings by Mary Cadogan: “The ‘Ally Pally’ offered a splendid range of facilities to the public and to enterprising showmen. As well as a boating lake and a race course it provided a fairground and various arenas suitable for carnivals, military tournaments and the then extremely popular firework displays. There was also a Great Hall for musical and other performances, and a smaller theatre called the Bijou, where the celebrated Texan entertainer, Samuel Franklin Cody, drew crowds to see his Wild Western extravaganza The KlondikeNugget.
I would thoroughly recommend reading Women with Wings for many reasons, not least the story of Dolly Shepherd and her parachuting career with Gaudron. She and Caudron toured the country and I give an example of one adventure at COALVILLE, LEICESTERSHIRE. I think I should quote the following: “Dolly quickly became known as the Parachute Queen, captivating audiences by her smart appearance both on the ground and in the air, and by her willingness to discuss with them, before and after her jumps. The thrills, chills and general sense of glamour which were still associated with ballooning several years after the Wright brothers made the first powered flight…in 1903.”
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER
I now think this ‘evidence’ is very important. When I first discovered that Gaudron and later Cody were using ‘ALLY PALLY’ I had the notion that the site was somewhat secluded, and by this means suitable for experiments etc. In fact the converse is the case, they were conducting their affairs in one of the most popular centres of attraction in London. As has been revealed, both men sought the maximum publicity for “business” reasons. Maximum exposure to the public was the name of the game.
MODEL COMPETITIONS
Without any doubt many advanced concepts in aviation were pioneered by model makers. Indeed, the basic principles of fixed wing aviation were established by Sir George Cayley, using models at his home at BROMPTON HALL during the early 1800s. This model flying competition appears to have been the first arranged by the Aero Club, held here in 1907.
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