Historic John Laing images released
Monday January 13, 2020 in News
The John Laing Charitable Trust (JLCT) in partnership with Historic England (HE) have released 2,000 images from the John Laing Photographic Collection taken between the end of World War II and the end of the century. These are available to view at: https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/new/breaking-new-ground-project/ Iconic projects including the Second Severn Crossing, The Barbican, Coventry Cathedral, M1 and M6 are featured alongside some of the tens of thousands of Easiform houses. They show the scope and scale of the contracts. Pictured right is Stonemason Ted Drinkwater at work on Carlisle Cathedral. Many of these captured the imagination of the nation. Building most of the first sections of the M1 marked the dawning of the motorway era in the UK. Berkeley Power Station was one of the first full scale commercial nuclear facilities in the world. It was built around the same time as Coventry Cathedral and the two projects were often referred to as The Power and The Glory. A total of 10,000 images will be released as part of the 21-month project covering various sectors of construction and also the care the Company took of its employees. There will be images illustrating the annual outings on which the thousands of staff were taken. These required the Company to charter whole trains and fleets of coaches. The Company also has a film archive which is held by the British Film Institute (BFI).
MANY of John Laing Construction’s major UK projects were featured throughout the national press with the official launch of the Breaking New Ground project on January 13, 2020.