The Architecture Section had a very productive outing on 16th July, despite the rather damp weather. The purpose was to take a close look at West Park Avenue, which has many houses bearing the hallmarks of Adolphus Curry, the renowned local architect whom we celebrated on our very successful Curry Day on 10th June. The walkabout attracted over a dozen Section members (we had expected half a dozen) who worked in pairs to systematically record the architectural features of each property in the street. Although the house with the tower at the junction of the West Park Avenue and Cheapside (Omdurman) is familiar to many people, being so prominent, one of the most interesting pairs of houses is Hawarden Villas, because of the wealth of idiosyncratic decorative detail and craftsmanship that it displays. Background research has also been done to discover the street’s origins, and the people behind it. All this information is now being synthesised for further discussion at the next Section meeting on 24th August.
On a related subject, work on the digitisation of the collections of historic architectural drawings donated to the Société has now been resumed, with the intention of publishing a booklet and exhibition in Spring 2024. An extract from one of these drawings, a pair of semi-detached houses at Belle Plage, can be seen here.
