LCC municipal
@lccmunicipal.bsky.social
London County Council, Greater London Council, pre- and post-1965 boroughs in London (+ occasional forays outside of the capital). Municipal stuff from the past that lives on today. Oh, and new towns, shopping centres, infrastructure etc.
lccmunicipal.com
lccmunicipal.com
Okey doke, here’s one for you then (and apologies if you have written about this before) - did the GLC invent the concept of the square roundabout? And why did they love them so much?
December 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Okey doke, here’s one for you then (and apologies if you have written about this before) - did the GLC invent the concept of the square roundabout? And why did they love them so much?
Cover of the day: The Severn Bridge. There is no date on this, and it appears to have been published privately to mark the completion of works - so that places it just after 1966.
December 18, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Cover of the day: The Severn Bridge. There is no date on this, and it appears to have been published privately to mark the completion of works - so that places it just after 1966.
Municipal guide of the day: published in 1984, this one is from the London Borough of Hounslow and features the open plan office "pavilions" of the now-demolished former Civic Centre as well as some Bedfont branch library action... #Hounslow
December 16, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Municipal guide of the day: published in 1984, this one is from the London Borough of Hounslow and features the open plan office "pavilions" of the now-demolished former Civic Centre as well as some Bedfont branch library action... #Hounslow
Not just blue and grey - orange too!
December 16, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Not just blue and grey - orange too!
…then you will want to read this from one of the predecessor Authorities!
“A Guide to the profitable use of Leisure”
“A Guide to the profitable use of Leisure”
December 15, 2025 at 9:27 PM
…then you will want to read this from one of the predecessor Authorities!
“A Guide to the profitable use of Leisure”
“A Guide to the profitable use of Leisure”
Cover of the day: Leisure in the London Borough of Newham. Undated but looks to be late 1960s.
December 15, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Cover of the day: Leisure in the London Borough of Newham. Undated but looks to be late 1960s.
And a bit more:
December 15, 2025 at 12:28 PM
And a bit more:
Thamesmead - The First Areas. This is undated, but appears to be from around 1976: A GLC brochure outlining the work done on the initial Thamesmead areas (I, II ,IIA and IIID). This first phase of work produced nearly 4,200 dwellings.
December 15, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Thamesmead - The First Areas. This is undated, but appears to be from around 1976: A GLC brochure outlining the work done on the initial Thamesmead areas (I, II ,IIA and IIID). This first phase of work produced nearly 4,200 dwellings.
The Cement & Concrete Association: diligent chroniclers of the UK’s post-WW2 infrastructure projects, always in shades of blue and grey!
December 14, 2025 at 2:02 PM
The Cement & Concrete Association: diligent chroniclers of the UK’s post-WW2 infrastructure projects, always in shades of blue and grey!
Today’s municipal treasure: a London Borough of Hammersmith 1st place swimming (presumably, given it’s a gala?) medal from 1971:
December 13, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Today’s municipal treasure: a London Borough of Hammersmith 1st place swimming (presumably, given it’s a gala?) medal from 1971:
It’s Saturday Morning Municipal Street Lighting Nerd Club. Here is the Philips MA 30. Never that common, but it occasionally found favour in the late 70s and early 80s. Some old Google street view pics from Bromley and Greenwich here, and I recall them in Lambeth, Richmond and RBKC...
December 13, 2025 at 8:01 AM
It’s Saturday Morning Municipal Street Lighting Nerd Club. Here is the Philips MA 30. Never that common, but it occasionally found favour in the late 70s and early 80s. Some old Google street view pics from Bromley and Greenwich here, and I recall them in Lambeth, Richmond and RBKC...
Walked past the Brewer Street NCP car park this morning - I’ve always liked this one. From 1929, by Robert Sharp and J.J. Joass.
December 12, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Walked past the Brewer Street NCP car park this morning - I’ve always liked this one. From 1929, by Robert Sharp and J.J. Joass.
A wall mosaic from the late 1980s attached to Columbia School - that is definitely an unorthodox ilea logo! The Tower Hamlets one is the Council-level version used in the Neighbourhoods era.
December 12, 2025 at 5:37 PM
A wall mosaic from the late 1980s attached to Columbia School - that is definitely an unorthodox ilea logo! The Tower Hamlets one is the Council-level version used in the Neighbourhoods era.
Lost logos of the London Boroughs: I found myself in Columbia Road today, home to some LB Tower Hamlets lost logos. The 1970s castle-and-river one was the result of a public competition, the £100 prize won by an M.S. Shea of Newhaven, East Sussex. The Bethnal Green Neighbourhood one covers 1986-94.
December 12, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Lost logos of the London Boroughs: I found myself in Columbia Road today, home to some LB Tower Hamlets lost logos. The 1970s castle-and-river one was the result of a public competition, the £100 prize won by an M.S. Shea of Newhaven, East Sussex. The Bethnal Green Neighbourhood one covers 1986-94.
Some lovely tiles from Evelyn James’ bathroom at West Dean, West Sussex
December 11, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Some lovely tiles from Evelyn James’ bathroom at West Dean, West Sussex
Here goes - the caption in the second image is for the picture in the first image, from what looks like the southern stretch of the East Cross Route
December 9, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Here goes - the caption in the second image is for the picture in the first image, from what looks like the southern stretch of the East Cross Route
This map shows the proposed primary road network as planned in 1967. The motorway box, C ring and D ring feature along with major radials.
December 9, 2025 at 8:47 PM
This map shows the proposed primary road network as planned in 1967. The motorway box, C ring and D ring feature along with major radials.
Cover of the day: from 1967 and the start of the Plummer era - the GLC’s London’s Roads, a programme for action. The motorway box was at the centre of policy (although, sometimes forgotten, so too were traffic restrictions and public transport), but the Ringways were not yet fully formed as an idea.
December 9, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Cover of the day: from 1967 and the start of the Plummer era - the GLC’s London’s Roads, a programme for action. The motorway box was at the centre of policy (although, sometimes forgotten, so too were traffic restrictions and public transport), but the Ringways were not yet fully formed as an idea.
Just another Redditch resident…
December 7, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Just another Redditch resident…
Behold the people of Redditch New Town!
December 7, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Behold the people of Redditch New Town!
It’s Saturday Morning Municipal Street Lighting Nerd Club. Last week the popular Philips SGS 203, this week the less common SGS 204. You can still see some of these on the M25 between Wisley and Addlestone and, as the last picture shows, they used to be popular in Kensington & Chelsea.
December 6, 2025 at 9:11 AM
It’s Saturday Morning Municipal Street Lighting Nerd Club. Last week the popular Philips SGS 203, this week the less common SGS 204. You can still see some of these on the M25 between Wisley and Addlestone and, as the last picture shows, they used to be popular in Kensington & Chelsea.
Westway, to me, sounds like one of those 1960s progressive and slightly abstract or conceptual names (down with avenues, roads and streets!), a bit like Midsummer Boulevard. But the small bit of A40 between Wood Lane and Old Oak Road was already called Westway. Map undated but 1950s at the latest.
December 2, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Westway, to me, sounds like one of those 1960s progressive and slightly abstract or conceptual names (down with avenues, roads and streets!), a bit like Midsummer Boulevard. But the small bit of A40 between Wood Lane and Old Oak Road was already called Westway. Map undated but 1950s at the latest.
Cover of the day: from 1968, here is the Cement and Concrete Association’s brochure on the Western Avenue Extension aka Westway. It was published two years prior to the opening of the Westway, so it’s all artists’ impressions:
December 2, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Cover of the day: from 1968, here is the Cement and Concrete Association’s brochure on the Western Avenue Extension aka Westway. It was published two years prior to the opening of the Westway, so it’s all artists’ impressions:
Cover of the day: from December 1973, a London Borough of Hillingdon consultation document on road improvements in Hayes. A great shot of the EMI factory, which dominates the scene.
December 1, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Cover of the day: from December 1973, a London Borough of Hillingdon consultation document on road improvements in Hayes. A great shot of the EMI factory, which dominates the scene.
Perhaps linked to privatisation of the car park’s operation?
November 29, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Perhaps linked to privatisation of the car park’s operation?