back to the Index, or to the Geography page
The Big Smoke
Capital of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Empire and the British Commonwealth of Nations. It is the largest city in the UK, and a major center of world trade and finance.
The nickname "Big Smoke" refers to the poor air quality in the city, especially in winter. A half-dozen big coal-fired electrical power stations, numerous steam locomotives and other coal-burning engines, and the widespread use of domestic, high-sulfur coal for cooking and home heating all feed the recurring "pea soup" or "London particular" conditions. In the 1880s there were an average of 60 fogs per year, but the introduction of electric lighting, and some electric railway vehicles, has reduced this by the 1930s to "only" 30 or so a year.
Newspapers
Foreign newspapers can be obtained at various shops in Shaftesbury Avenue, Coventry Street, Leicester Square and the adjoining areas, also in Bloomsbury, in the City, and at Selfridge's (Oxford Street).
The top seven daily newspapers of the UK in 1930 (listed from highest to lowest circulation) are:
|
newspaper
|
city
|
notes
|
|
Daily Mail
|
London
|
sensationalist, supports fascism to 1934
|
|
Daily Express
|
London since 1931
|
populist, in favor of appeasement
|
|
News Chronicle
|
London
|
anti-fascist and left wing
|
|
Daily Herald
|
London
|
pro-Labour and "working class"
|
|
Daily Mirror
|
London
|
sympathetic to Mosley and the BUF
|
|
Daily Sketch
|
Manchester
|
populist Conservative
|
|
The Times
|
London
|
extensive official contacts
|
The Times is only about one-fifth the circulation of the Daily Sketch. Most of these newspapers cost 1d; the Times costs 3d.
Transport
An extensive web of trams, omnibuses, river steamers, and motor-buses lead to all parts of London and England. It's unlikely that player-characters will use these services if speed is required. More often they will employ:
Taxicabs and Car Hire
The minimum taxicab fare is 9d for one or two persons for the first two-thirds of a mile, and 3d for every additional third of a mile. 3d are charged for heavy baggage ("outside the vehicle") and 6d for additional passengers beyond two. A tip of 3d is the minimum.
Car-hire firms will provide cars with, or without, drivers. Daimler rents motor-cars for 12 guineas per week.
The Underground
This is a network of subterranean railways -- densest in the City and eastern part of the "West End" -- which serves Central London, the lines emerging above-ground in the suburbs to extend to points as far afield as Morden (Surrey) on the south, and Cockfosters (Hertfordshire) on the north.
Fares are from 1d upwards, 3d being about the maximum in Central London.
Railways
We have a page on rail travel between London and Paris. The most expensive fare is £6 10s. The cheapest fare is the "Night Ferry", 3rd class, at £1 18s -- it departs Victoria Station at 10 p.m. or 11 p.m., and arrives at Paris the next day around 9 or 10 a.m.
Our page on British rail travel mostly focuses on London.
Airports
Numerous air services from all parts of the British Isles, the Continent, and overseas countries converge on London. The chief airport of the capital is at Croydon, some 12 miles to the north, and in air time-tables the name "London" usually signifies Croydon except where specific reference is made to another aerodrome.
The busiest service to the Continent are the flights to Paris, operated by Imperial Airways, Air France (route 476), and Hillman's Airways. "Cheap" air fares to Paris are about £4 12s; the "Silver Wing" luxury service costs £11 6s.
Express automobile services are operated by the air companies between Croydon airport and Central London in connection with the arrival of aeroplanes, the journey taking 45 minutes.
The aircraft of British Airways (principally from Northern Europe) make use of Gatwick Airport, adjoining a station of the same name (formerly Tinsley Green) on the main Brighton line of the Southern Railway (27-1/2 miles from Victoria Station, which is reached in 1 hour).
Aircraft on certain Channel Islands services land at Heston Airport.
Flying-boats operating on the Empire services of Imperial Airways alight at present at Southampton, whence passengers are conveyed to London by train.
Sea Travel
The direct approach to the capital by ocean liner and other steamship services is by the Port of London. Except for coastwise and Continental services, this approach is used for passenger traffic chiefly by vessels coming from East Africa, Australia, India and the Far East. Among docks used in this connection are the Royal Victoria, Royal Albert, and King George V Docks, all of which are within easy driving distance of Central London and have railway connection with Fenchurch Street Station.
|
Summary of Sailings from London to Africa, the Mediterranean and the Orient
|
|
LINE
|
PORTS OF CALL
|
SAILING
|
|
P. & O.
|
Tangier, Gibraltar, Marseilles, Malta (every 2 weeks), Port Said, Aden, Bombay
|
Weekly
|
|
ditto
|
Gibraltar, Marseilles, Port Said, Aden, Bombay, Colombo, and Australian ports
|
Fortnightly
|
|
ditto
|
Gibraltar, Marseilles, Port Said, Aden, Bombay, Colombo, Penang, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kobe and Yokohama
|
Fortnightly
|
|
Orient
|
Gibraltar, Toulon, Naples, Port Said, Aden, Colombo, and Australian ports
|
About fortnightly
|
|
Prince
|
Malta, Alexandria, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beyrout (or Tunis, Malta, Famagusta, Beyrout, Haifa, Jaffa, Alexandria)
|
Every 3 weeks
|
|
British India
|
Malta, Port Said, Suez, Aden, Colombo, Madras, Calcutta
|
Every 4 weeks
|
|
ditto
|
Marseilles, Malta, Port Said, Suez, Port Sudan, Aden, Mombasa, Killindini, Zanzibar, Dar-es-Salaaj, Beira (in Mozambique)
|
Every 4 weeks
|
|
Nippon Yusen Kaisya (Japan Mail Line)
|
Gibraltar, Marseilles, Naples, Port Said, Colombo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kobe, Yokohama
|
Fortnightly
|
|
Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co., Ltd.
|
Tangier, Gibraltar, Marseilles, Genoa, Port Said, Port Sudan, Aden, Mombasa, Tanga, Zanzibar, Dar-es-Salaam, Port Amelia, Mozambique, Beira, Lourenço Marques, Durban, Cape Town; the return route to London is along the west coast of Africa, stopping at various Atlantic islands
|
Every 4 weeks
|
|
Glen Line & Shire Line
|
Port Said, Penang, Port Swettenham (Port Klang), Singapore, Hong Kong, Taku Bar, Dairen, Yokohama, Kobe; other North China ports "if inducement offers"
|
Fortnightly
|
|
Ellerman, Wescott and Laurance Line, Ltd.
|
Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria, Cyprus, Larnaca, Famagusta
|
Fortnightly
|
|
ditto
|
Gibraltar, Malta, Piraeus, Thessaloniki, Istanbul, Izmir; occasional other Mediterranean or Black Sea ports
|
Fortnightly
|
|
Ellermann's City and Hall Lines
|
Marseilles (occasional), Port Said, Port Sudan, Karachi, Bombay, Colombo, Madras, Calcutta
|
Occasional
|
|
MacAndrew & Co. Ltd. (John Hall Line)
|
Gibraltar, Barcelona, Tarragona, Valencia, and sometimes other Spanish ports
|
Occasional
|
|
ditto
|
Pasajes, Bilbao, Santander, and other Spanish ports round to Barcelona
|
Occasional
|
|
ditto
|
Lisbon, Gibraltar and varying Moroccan ports (usually Tangier, Larache, Rabat, Casablanca, Mazagan, Mogador, Saffi)
|
Occasional
|
The big trans-Atlantic liners from the United States and Canada arrive at Southampton, from whence the boat trains whisk passengers to Victoria Station.
Information about sea travel can be found here. A first-class cabin to New York, on a fast Cunard Line vessel during the season, will cost about £60; £80 for a suite with bedroom, living room, and private bathroom. The ships of the French Line board at Plymouth; a first-class cabin is going to cost at least £85, up to £514 for the very fanciest suite on the very stylish Île de France. The big Cunard and French Line ships take about 5 days to cross the Atlantic.
Communications
Parcels and Packages
Ordinary post offices are open weekdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; but the General Post Office, King Edward Street, London E.C., and the post office in Charing Cross Road, London, W.C.2 maintain a 24 hour service during the week; while the post office opposite Charing Cross station is open all night for telegraphic business.
Telegraph
The post office opposite Charing Cross station is open all night for telegraphic business on weekdays; the offices of the cable companies are always open. By 1934 "Cable and Wireless, Ltd." is about the only commercial telegraph system operating from Britain, having absorbed most other British overseas networks.
We have several telegram forms to use, some as HTML tables.
|
telegram rates from Great Britain, December 1934
|
|
destination
|
up to 10 words
|
add'l word
|
|
The British Empire
|
|
Australia
|
4s
|
5d
|
|
Hong Kong
|
9s 2d
|
11d
|
|
India and Burma
|
2s 6d
|
3d
|
|
Kenya and Uganda
|
3s
|
4d
|
|
Palestine
|
2s 11d
|
3-1/2d
|
| Other Countries |
|
China
|
9s 2d
|
11d
|
|
Czechoslovakia
|
2s 6d
|
3d
|
|
Egypt, at Cairo or Alexandria
|
2s 6d
|
3d
|
|
France
|
1s 3d
|
1-1/4d
|
|
Greece, mainland
|
2s 6d
|
3d
|
|
Greece, islands
|
2s 8-1/2d
|
3-1/4d
|
|
Italy
|
2s 1d
|
2-1/2d
|
|
Roumania
|
2s 6d
|
3d
|
|
Spain
|
1s 3d
|
1-1/2d
|
|
Switzerland
|
1s 3d
|
1-1/2d
|
|
United States of America, east of the Rocky Mountains
|
2s 6d
|
3d
|
Telephone
Between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. the minimum charge for non-local telephone calls to any part of England is 1 shilling; the operator will break into the call from time to time, asking for more coins.
The minimum charge for a local call is 2d. Public telephones (such as in the famous red telephone boxes) accept pence, sixpence, and shilling coins, and use the well-known "button A and button B" equipment.
More information on telephones here.
Banks and Money
The "Big Five" banks are: The Midland Bank, Barclays Bank Ltd., Lloyds Bank, Westminster Bank, and The London and Provincial Bank. They all have branches at many UK locations. In addition, the American Express Company (London office at Haymarket, S.W.1) can provide similar services.
The Bank of England does offer some consumer banking services, but only on a limited basis (and has only the one office, on Threadneedle Street). A few private bank notes from other banks are still in circulation, but are pretty rare by the 1930s.
Keep in mind that after 1931 the United Kingdom is no longer on the gold standard.
We have a section on British money at our currency page.
Accommodations
The hotels de luxe are listed on our hotels page, and cost about 25 to 35 shillings a night; a suite (sitting room, perhaps two bedrooms, baths, servant's room, etc.) might cost £10 per day. "Merely" first-class hotels are about 10 to 21 shillings per night. A very ordinary hotel, clean and modern but with no pretensions towards fashion, will cost around 5s 6p per night (without meals). Tips will add 15 or 20 per cent to the cost.
Boarding-houses (especially around the large railway terminals) offer "en pension" rates (i.e., meals included) at about 50 shillings per week.
Restaurants
As a general rule, breakfast (a substantial meal in England) is served at hotels between 8 and 10 a.m.; luncheon from noon to 2:30 or 3 p.m.; and dinner from 7 to 9 p.m.. At some hotels, in the fashionable districts or near theatres, dinner-time extends to midnight. Tea is a light meal eaten between 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Evening dress is only essential in the restaurants connected to the de luxe hotels, or the very swankiest and exclusive night clubs.
Clubs
There are thousands of clubs and private societies in London, from the famous and exclusive gentlemen's clubs to minor specialized groups (dog-fanciers, political debating dinner groups, artists, mystical and pseudo-scientific theorists, etc.). Many of the more famous clubs with their own premises are listed on our page here.
Chinatown
For very basic gaming purposes, the term "Limehouse" or "the East End" will do.
In the district between Pennfields and King Street are immigrants from Shanghai; around Gill Street and the Limehouse Causeway are the immigrants from Canton, Hong Kong and southern China. These are definitely mixed districts, however: besides the Chinese there are Russians, Lascars, Arabs, Italians, and plenty of British poor as well.
While luridly described in newspapers and scandal-seeking magazines, London's Chinatown is not very large ... slightly over a thousand residents total in 1931. Three-quarters of them are men, mostly sailors. Liverpool has a much larger Chinese-speaking population.
Chinese-speaking persons in London began to live in other districts after 1932, not so concentrated. In 1934 Limehouse Causeway is widened, which required the demolition of several side streets and alleys in Chinatown. Shipping companies use the London docks less and less, preferring larger ports closer to the sea.
Embassies and Legations
We have a complete list of embassies and legations, but here are some of the embassies:
China
49 Portland Place, W.1; ambassador from 1932 is Kuo Tai-Chi (graduate of the U. of Pennsylvania)
France
Albert Gate House, S.W.1; ambassador from 1933 is Charles Corbin.
Germany
9 Carlton House Terrace, S.W.1; ambassador from 1932 to 1936 is Leopold von Hoesch. After his death in 1936, he is replaced by the notorious Nazi Joachim von Ribbentrop.
Italy
4 Three Kings Yard, S.1 (Chancery); ambassador from 1932 is Dino Grandi, Conte di Mordano.
United States of America
4 Grosvenor Gardens, S.W.1 (Chancery); ambassador from May of 1933 is Judge Robert Worth Bingham (a strong financial contributor to FDR's election, and an opponent of fascism and the Nazis). His daughter Henrietta is an very bohemian Anglophile, a saxophone player, and part of the Bloomsbury group.
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
13 Kensington Place Gardens, W.8; ambassador from 1932 is Ivan Maisky.
Remember that embassies have an ambassador, while legations (more common) have a minister. Also, most nations (including the UK) will only send an ambassador to a nation which sends an ambassador to London.
The "dean" (or doyen, and his wife, the doyenne) of the diplomatic corps in London is the senior foreign representative (ambassador) who has served the longest in the UK. He (or she) has precedence over all other ambassadors and ministers; and represents the foreign diplomats to His Majesty's government when their group interests or privileges are infringed or threatened; the dean can only act with the consent of his colleagues. He also represents all the foreign diplomats at certain events, such as at the monarch's birthday dinner. Since about 1934, the dean is Raul Régis de Oliveira, the ambassador from Brazil since 1925; here's a photo of him at an important event.
While historically the UK did not have any female diplomats in this period,
other nations certainly did, even as ministers or ambassadors:
Chile, Spain, the United States and the Soviet Union, to name a few.
Foreign diplomats are in turn supervised by the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, a British court official who deals with matters of highest diplomatic protocol; the Marshal (for example) supervises the presentation of ambassador's credentials at Buckingham Palace. Lower-level diplomats present their credentials to the Protocol Department of the Foreign Office.
The best places to see all of the foreign ambassadors and ministers at once in public are the annual State Opening of Parliament (late October or early November), and at the Trooping of the Colour in early June. An annual diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace, also in November, isn't open to the public.
The Government
Characters might need to visit the important offices of various national agencies:
The War Office
Whitehall, S.W.1
The Admiralty
Whitehall, S.W.1
King Charles Street, S.W.1
The Colonial Office
King Charles Street, S.W.1
Metropolitan Police
New Scotland Yard, Victoria Embankment, S.W.1
The British Empire
Keep in mind that the British colonies and protectorates are not represented diplomatically in London -- the Colonial Office represents them. The Dominions have High Commissioner's offices, as follows:
Australia
Australia House, Strand, W.C.2
Canada
Canada House, Trafalgar Square, S.W.1
India
India House, Aldwych, W.C.2
Irish Free State
33 Regent Street, S.W.1
New Zealand
415 Strand, W.C.2
Southern Rhodesia
429 Strand, W.C.2
Union of South Africa
South Africa House, Trafalgar Square, S.W.1
Laws
Firearms
The first restrictions on the purchase of firearms were put in place in 1903; by the 1930s several acts restrict ownership. The most notable effect is the requirement that anyone buying, or possessing, a firearm or ammunition must have a firearm certificate (cost 5 shillings), good for three years. Certificates are issued by the local chief constables, who have a lot of leeway in deciding who qualifies (the rich and influential have no trouble in obtaining certificates). This law doesn't affect smooth-bore guns, or antiques; machine-guns and cannons are considered "firearms" for this purposes (though see the section on Explosives).
In 1936, however, short-barreled shotguns (barrel under 20"), flamethrowers and automatic weapons will be prohibited.
Silencers are entirely unregulated in the UK.
Explosives
Since the 1880s bombs, explosive shells, or any "explosive substance" are unavailable without a "lawful purpose" -- and "self-defense" is never considered a lawful purpose for these. Licenses are required for all "lawful purposes", such as manufacturing, mining, fireworks, etc.
Customs, Tariffs and Currency Controls
Persons entering the UK must have valid passports or equivalent documents. Visas are required for citizens or subjects of certain nations, including the United States.
Travelers leaving the UK may not take more than £75 in cash with them, except to other nations or territories within the Dominions or the Empire (the "sterling bloc"). There are lots of exceptions: if a doctor prescribes a holiday, for example; or inheritances; interest and dividends; and payment for professional services. All diplomats (British and foreign) are exempt. Commercial transfers of money, purchases of property abroad, etc. require permits from the Treasury. Emigrants from the UK can transfer £5,000 to the new country of residence.
In February of 1932 the Import Duties Act added at least ten per cent to the tariff rate on all imports (with exceptions for basic foodstuffs, raw materials, and imports from the British Empire).
Sources
-
Cook's Continental Timetable August 1939, reprint 1987 David & Charles Inc., North Pomfret
-
London Guide Book and Atlas, pub. 1937 Thos. Cook & Son, Ltd., London
-
London and its Environs, pub. Karl Baedeker, 1930
-
1936 ... On The Continent, ed. by Eugene Fodor, pub. (facsimile) 1985 by Hodder and Stoughton, London
-
Bradshaw's General Railway, Steam Navigation, & Hotel Guide for Great Britain and Ireland, No. 1239, pub. Oct. 1936 by Henry Blacklock & Co., London
-
The Seamen's Handbook for Shore Leave, edited by Mrs. Henry Howard, pub. 1944 (Eighth Edition) by the New York & American Merchant Marine Library Association, New York City
-
International Air Guide - Air Atlas 1931; pub. 1931 by Imprimerie Crété S.A., Paris, France
-
Bradshaw's International Air Guide, pub. 1934 by Henry Blacklock & Co., Ltd., London (facsimile edition 2013 by Old House Books, Oxford)
-
The British Motor Industry 1896-1939, by Kennith Richardson, pub 1977 by The Macmillan Press, London and Basingstoke
-
Muirhead's England, pub. 1930 by Macmillan & Co. Ltd., London
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.