Courts have Street cred
QUESTION Who was the architect of the Royal Courts of Justice building in London and what is its history?
THE complex of buildings on the Strand in Central London now called the Royal Courts of Justice originated with a mid-Victorian decision to bring together the upper tier of civil courts.
Architect George Edmund Street won the competition to design the new building, employing the Gothic Revival style that was popular at the time.
Arched gateways, projecting towers and extravagant turrets, all decorated with symbolic sculpture, fronted the Great Hall, which had a cathedral-like volume that recalls the many churches Street had built.
Spiral stairs led to each courtroom, with separate routes for the various parties in a case. Exhausted, Street died in 1881, a year before his masterwork opened.
And although extensions over the next century accommodated extra work and different jurisdictions, it is Street’s romantic composition of spires, chimneys and gables that is seen across the lake in St James’s Park or as a dramatic silhouette on London’s skyline. Chris Rogers, author of How To Read London – A Crash-Course In London Architecture.
QUESTION Prior to entering World War II, the Roosevelt government loaned Britain 50 destroyers. Were they returned to the US after the war?
THE 50 destroyers transferred from the US Navy to the Royal and Royal Canadian Navies in 1940 were not loaned.
The Lend Lease Bill did not come into force until March 11, 1941.
In the case of these destroyers, they were, in effect, bought from the US in exchange for basing rights in Argentina, Newfoundland in Canada, and around the Caribbean.
The transfer was actually enacted on September 3, 1940.
The destroyers, of the US Navy’s Shaw (3), Wickes (27) and Clemson (20) classes, were delivered to Halifax, Nova Scotia, by US crews early in September, and commissioned into the Royal and Royal Canadian Navies between September and December, 1940.
Known by the British as the ‘Town’ class, they were usually renamed after towns common to the US and Great Britain, or, in the case of the six taken over by Canada, after rivers near the US/Canadian border.
Most had been in reserve for some time, and, as well as being in poor condition, equipment aboard them was obsolete, with the result that all required major refits.
Consequently, they did not become operational until early 1941, when they were allocated to East Coast escort duties, Atlantic escort services and anti-submarine duties connected with the laying of the Northern Mine Barrage.
As newer, more capable escorts entered service, the Towns were relegated to second-line duties, and few were in the front line by the end of 1943.
Geoff Hewitt, Preston, Lancs.
QUESTION Has any production motorcycle had a reverse gear?
FURTHER to earlier answers, in the Fifties I had a 1928 Scott 600 cc TT Replica motorcycle.
It had a two-stroke engine, and if running at very low revolutions, a quick flip of the throttle could cause the engine to reverse rotation.
One time I had stopped at traffic lights, and on them changing to red, I quickly opened the throttle – and went backwards.
By sheer luck there was no traffic behind me.
I later learned this was a habit well-known by Scott riders.
I’d bought the bike for £30 and today they are valued in the range of £8,000 – wish I had kept it.
Ted Henbery, Crawley, W. Sussex. MY NEIGHBOUR owned a Brough Superior BS4 with sidecar. It had three forward gears and reverse.
It was the early Sixties, and as a young boy I was always keen to have a ride in the sidecar.
The owner would often let me, along with numerous other children, screaming and shouting with excitement.
But the best part was going backwards and seeing if we could all still hang on.
The owner was a true fan of the marque and his house was called Brough. He also owned a Brough car, which had been owned by George Brough, the racer and manufacturer. Barry Stickland, Finchampstead, Berks.
QUESTION Are all Church of England weddings open to the public?
THE Church of England recently published Celebrity Marriages in Anglican Cathedrals and Churches in light of the wedding of Kate Middleton’s sister Pippa to James Matthews.
The guidance stated that ‘a marriage is a public ceremony which at the least all parishioners are entitled to attend’.
According to the document, produced by the Synod’s legal advisory commission, members of the public are entitled to attend as long as there is available seating or standing room unless a question of safety or security arises.
A lawyer working for the ecclesiastical office of the Archbishop of Canterbury said: ‘The document is pretty clear.
‘Parishioners and those on the electoral roll have the absolute right to attend services of public worship, and they can’t be denied access.’
Pippa and James got round the problem by holding their wedding on the Englefield Estate in Berkshire, which is private property. Colin Fry, Oxford.