• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
    • First Time Here?
    • Archive
    • London Blogs
  • Blog
  • Travel
    • London Theater Tickets
    • Shopping
    • Tips
    • Tours
    • Transport
    • Maps
    • Parks
    • Resources
    • Restaurants
    • Top 10 London
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Buildings
    • Food
    • London Books
    • Movies
    • Museums
    • Music
    • Pubs
  • Londonism
    • Reviews
    • Fun London
    • Iconic London
    • Life in London
    • London Realities
    • Moving to London
    • Politics
  • The Tube
  • London History
    • Great London Buildings
    • Great Londoners
  • Contact
  • Guidebooks
    • 101 London Travel Tips – Guidebook
    • 101 Free Things to do in London

Londontopia

The Website for People Who Love London

You are here: Home / History / London History: Ten Important London Events of the 1930s

London History: Ten Important London Events of the 1930s

Sep 22, 2021 By John Rabon Leave a Comment

The 1930s were a trying time for London from the onset of the Great Depression to the early days of World War II.  However, from 1931 to 1940, there were moments of positive change for the city amidst its more trying moments.  Throughout ten years, London saw the first notes of new musical performances, better public transport, the emergence of a greener city, and a new Sovereign on the throne.  To highlight the good and the bad of this decade in London’s history, we’ve outlined ten of the most important events by year.  If there’s something you think we left out, you can share that in the comments.

1931 – Abbey Road Studios Opens

First homes and then flats, after the Gramophone Company acquired 3 Abbey Road in 1929, the company set about converting the Georgian building into recording studios.  It opened in November 1931 as EMI Recording Studios after a merger and began recording popular music in the late 1950s.  It is, of course, the studio in which the Beatles recorded their Abbey Road album that was released in 1969 and the cover photo taken at the nearby zebra crossing.

1932 – London Philharmonic Orchestra First Performance

The old saying goes that you should “go big or go home” and the London Philharmonic Orchestra decided it wanted to go big.  Before the 1930s, the only major game in town was the London Symphony Orchestra, so Sir John Reith and Sir Thomas Beecham decided to form an orchestra that would rival them and anyone else in Europe—succeeding when they formed the LPO in 1932.  Beecham conducted the first concert by the LPO at Queen’s Hall on October 7, 1932.

1933 – London Passenger Transport Board Begins Operation

It’s not all music in this list, though this entry is very moving.  In 1933, the London Passenger Transport Act took all of the public transport companies that were operating in the city and pulled them into one large public scheme.  To manage all of it, the London Passenger Transport Board was established by the law, which eventually became Transport for London in 2000.

1934 – Mitcham Borough Formed

The village of Mitcham in Surrey originally had its local government organization formed in 1915 as an urban district to the rural borough of the abolished Croydon Rural District.  In 1934, it gained full status as a London municipal borough, a status it held until the London Government Act 1963 reorganized the boroughs when implemented in 1965.  It then became part of the London Borough of Merton.

1935 – Becontree Estate Opens

Recognizing a greater need for housing in London, the London County Council began one of the most ambitious housing developments in the city’s history with Becontree.  Located in Barking & Dagenham, the Becontree Estate was the largest public housing project in the world when it was completed in 1935.  Nearly 26,000 homes were constructed between 1921 and 1935 with 100,000 people living in them at the time the area opened officially.

1936 – Crystal Palace Burns Down

Built for the Great Exhibition of 1851, for decades afterward, the Crystal Palace was the city’s most prominent venue for new and exciting displays.  It served as a military training post during World War I and was the place where John Logie Baird first experimented with television broadcasts.  On November 30, 1936, an explosion in the women’s cloak room started an office fire that quickly overtook the building and burned it to the ground.  While the gardens remain today, the building has never been reconstructed.

1937 – King George VI Coronation

The Coronation of King George VI in 1937 brought an end to a tumultuous period that followed the death of King George V in early 1936.  The coronation parade route was extended for the return from Westminster Abbey, and the coronation itself was the first to be filmed—both for newsreels and the emerging BBC Television Service.  Street parties abounded throughout the city, with plenty of patriotic decorations and cultural iconography throughout London.

1938 – Green Belt Act

Controlled growth in London has always been a concern going back to Queen Elizabeth I.  The idea of a green buffer zone to help prevent overdevelopment first started in the 1890s but found its footing with the Green Belt Act of 1938.  The act established a statutory green belt around the city that took roughly 14 years for each borough to define its limits.

1939 – First Anderson Shelter Built

On the advent of war, the government remembered the bombings of World War I and began to construct bomb shelters throughout the city.  Named for Sir John Anderson, whom Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had entrusted with air raid preparation, the first of these “Anderson Shelters” was constructed in Islington in 1939.  Between this first shelter in February and the outbreak of war in September, 1.5 million Anderson Shelters were delivered to people who lived in areas that the government believed would be targeted.

1940 – The Blitz Begins

Those shelters would come in handy only a year later when the Blitz began on September 7, 1940.  For the next eight months, Luftwaffe bombers pounded London until improvements in defenses, and the Battle of Britain helped turn the tide.  To date, the Blitz is one of the most defining moments in London’s history, and its toll cannot be fully stated in a small paragraph such as this.

John Rabon
Author: John Rabon

John is a regular writer for Anglotopia and its sister websites. He is currently engaged in finding a way to move books slightly to the left without the embarrassment of being walked in on by Eddie Izzard. For any comments, questions, or complaints, please contact the Lord Mayor of London, Boris Johnson's haircut.

close

Free London News

Get the latest news on London history, culture, travel, exhibitions, and more right in your inbox!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Share this:

  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Pocket

Filed Under: History

Subscribe to Our Free London Updates

Free London News

Get the latest news on London history, culture, travel, exhibitions, and more right in your inbox!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

About John Rabon

John is a regular writer for Anglotopia and its sister websites. He is currently engaged in finding a way to move books slightly to the left without the embarrassment of being walked in on by Eddie Izzard. For any comments, questions, or complaints, please contact the Lord Mayor of London, Boris Johnson's haircut.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Our Free London Updates

Free London News

Get the latest news on London history, culture, travel, exhibitions, and more right in your inbox!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Get the Anglotopia/Londontopia App

Our Advertisers

If you are a mobile gamer, you may want to take a look at UK’s new mobile casinos and slots reviewed by NewCasinoUK.

Join the London Forum

  • Mudlarking
  • MY FAVOURITE PLACE IN LONDON
  • What's Your Favorite Place in London?
  • Paddington Station

London Guide

  • Ten Cheap Things You Can Do in London on a Budget
  • Ten London Exhibitions to Look Forward to in 2023
  • London’s Non-Free Museums: Your Guide to London’s Museums That Charge Admission
  • Trip Planning: Top 10 Exhibitions To Plan Your 2018 Trips to London Around
  • London Guide: Our Favorite Restaurants in London – London Restaurant Recommendations for Americans – What’s Your Favorite?

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Support Londontopia

Search our Extensive Archive

Top 10 London

  • Ten Unusual Exhibits to See in London
  • London Pubs: Ten Thameside Pubs for a Pint and a View
  • Top 10 London: Ten More Things to Do Along the River Thames
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Shopping Centers in London
  • Museums of London: Ten Overlooked London Museums
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Haggerston
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Haringey
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Redbridge
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Hillingdon
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to Do in Canonbury

Recent Posts

  • Artist Ai Weiwei to launch first design-focused exhibition at London’s Design Museum
  • London Travel Alert: Staff at British Museum to walk out during half-term break
  • Poet Lemn Sissay ‘over the moon’ to receive Freedom of the City of London
  • English Heritage has unveiled six new blue plaques for London
  • National Portrait Gallery to reopen in June with two special exhibitions
  • Exploring The Cosmic House in London
  • Ten Social Media Accounts to Follow for Londonphiles
  • New Royal Academy Exhibition: Treasures from Spain and the Hispanic World
  • Pollock’s Toy Museum in London Has Closed Unexpectedly
  • The Fiver:  Five Live-Action Children’s Shows Set in London

Best Posts on Londontopia

  • 101 London Travel Tips
  • Top 100 London Attractions
  • How to Find the Cheapest Airfares to London
  • 10 Things NOT to do in London
  • Best London Guidebooks
  • 101 Free Things to do in London
  • London Lingo – A London Word Dictionary
  • Top 7 Tips for Doing London on the Cheap
  • Top 11 Myths American Believe about London
  • Guide to Eating in London
  • Best Times of Year to Travel to London
  • London Packing Tips
  • Top 11 Movies Set in London
  • Top Attractions off the Tourist Track
  • Top 5 Most Amazing London Hotels
  • Top 10 Hostels in London
  • Best Views in London Restuarants
  • London Taxi Ettiquette
  • Top 12 London Views
  • Great Fire of London
  • A Guide to Five of London’s Bridges
  • 10 Random Facts and Figures about Trafalgar Square
  • Top 100 British Slang Words

London Places to Explore

Bloomsbury Buckingham Palace Canary Wharf City of London Covent Garden Cutty Sark Greenwich Hampstead Hampton Court Palace Heathrow Houses of Parliament Hyde Park Imperial War Museum Islington Kensington Kensington Palace Leicester Square London London Eye London Transport Museum Museum of London National Gallery Notting Hill Piccadilly Circus Putney Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Regent's Street Royal Academy Selfridges Somerset House Southbank Southwark St Pancras St Paul's Cathedral Tate Britain Tate Modern The City Tower Bridge Tower of London Trafalgar Square V&A Wandsworth West End Westminster Westminster Abbey

SIGN-UP FOR FREE LONDON WEEKLY UPDATES!

Please enter a valid email address
That address is already in use
The security code entered was incorrect
Thanks for signing up

Recent Videos

Walk Around London Virtually Right Now – Watched Walker is the YouTube Channel We All Need Right Now

Jason Hawkes Shares a Beautiful Video of London From Above That We All Need Right now

London Tube: You’ve Got to Watch This Amazing Mesmerizing Animation That Shows the Real Geography of the London Underground

Video: The Basics of Crossrail – London’s New Underground Line

London History: The Place Where Old London Double Decker Buses Went to Die

London Video: A Look at the Great Smog of London

Tube and London bus fares to rise by nearly 6% from March

What is Crossrail 2 and What is Its Current Status?

London Alert: Strike by London Underground workers to go ahead after last-minute talks fail

London Mayor hails Elizabeth line as direct routes and Sunday services begin

Elizabeth line fully opens and offers more direct journeys

Tube poet encourages writers to ‘bring who they are to the field’

Footer

About Londontopia

Londontopia is simply the website for people who love London. It was founded by Jonathan & Jackie Thomas from Anglotopia.net as a place to post articles solely focused on London and its environs. Keep up with all the latest London news at Londontopia! This site is geared towards people who love to visit London and our primary audience is North American but everyone is welcome!

When We’re in London Next

We don’t currently have any travel plans to London but hope to visit at some point in 2021.

  • SEO Backlinks
  • Travel Blog

SIGN-UP FOR FREE LONDON WEEKLY UPDATES!

Please enter a valid email address
That address is already in use
The security code entered was incorrect
Thanks for signing up

Copyright © 2023 Anglotopia, LLC · Website Developed by Anglotopia, LLC · Log in