# Earl's Court May 15



## DirtyJigsaw (May 31, 2015)

Afternoon All, 

First off i thought id name this site as it is on another forum and it will not be around for much longer, so id like to document my explore here to this London Landmark.

I headed into Central London with Tombo68, and had gotten a message from Behind Closed Doors earlier that morning to see if i was about for some London explores, and as i stated earlier, i was already heading into London so it would have been rude not to have met up as he was with SpiderMonkey.

This place wasnt even on the hitlist for the day, but after a fail elsewhere in London i remembered this place wasnt too far away tbh so thought what the hell. Everyone seemed to like the idea so off we went. 

Secca on site made things interesting, but we managed to get in and out without any hassle.

Bit of history from Wiki for those that dont know too much about this place.

Earls Court Exhibition Centre is a closed exhibition, conference and events venue in London that originally opened in 1887 and was rebuilt in 1937 in its most recent art deco style exterior. It is located in Earls Court within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and was the largest such venue within central London. The founder was John R. Whitley and the first exhibition included performances by Buffalo Bill Cody as part of the 'American Exhibition'. This was followed by 'Four National Exhibitions', the title of C. Lowe's 1892 book about Earls Court and its founder.

Earls Court is widely known for serving as London's premier exhibition hall for many decades, hosting the Royal Tournament and Earls Court Motor Show, Ideal Home Show, the Brit Awards (until 2010) and a number of other notable events and concerts. It was also used as one of the venues for both the 1948 and 2012 Olympic Games. It was served by two London Underground stations: Earl's Court and West Brompton, opposite its entrances on Warwick Road and Old Brompton Road respectively.

In 2013 controversial plans to demolish Earls Court were approved in order to make way for a new residential and retail estate on the site, which is expected to be completed in 2033. Demolition work began on the site in December 2014.

Earls Court hosted many shows and exhibitions throughout the years, including the Earls Court Motor Show the Ideal Home Show and the BRIT Awards. The MPH Show, one of Britain's largest motoring exhibitions and shows, hosted by Jeremy Clarkson and others, took place there each winter after an earlier showing at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. Each summer from 1950 to 1999 Earls Court was home to the Royal Tournament, the first, oldest and biggest military tattoo in the world. For this the area now occupied by Earls Court Two became a stables, artillery and vehicle depot for some two months, with several hundred military personnel from all three services billeted 'on site'.

Going back to some of the history from the internet i just stole, yes, it does say the new residential and retail estate will be completed in 2033!! Thats 18 years from now, wtf!!! Haha

On with my photos

Earls Court Two Hall


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Ticket office for Earls Court Two


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Danger, Keep Out


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Only way is up!


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

What once was....


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Earls Court One, Main Stage Arena


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Demo'd


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Tonka Toy


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Warwick Road


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Main Arena


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Main Arena


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Block 27


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Going Down


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Going Down


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Way Out


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

To First Floor


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Front Doors to Earls Court Two


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Empty


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

Selfie


End of an Era by Dirty Jigsaw, on Flickr

I hope you enjoyed looking as much as i did looking around

Until next time

DirtyJigsaw


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## krela (May 31, 2015)

Very nice! Another landmark bites the dust. I remember seeing Metallica play there in 1996.

WTF? Was my response to 2033 too, what the hell are they building there?!


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## DirtyJigsaw (May 31, 2015)

krela said:


> Very nice! Another landmark bites the dust. I remember seeing Metallica play there in 1996.
> 
> WTF? Was my response to 2033 too, what the hell are they building there?!



Thanks Krela. Yeah, i remember going to afew Auto Shows here tbh back in the day. 
And i have no idea on what they are building for it to take that long!


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## The Wombat (May 31, 2015)

krela said:


> Very nice! Another landmark bites the dust. I remember seeing Metallica play there in 1996.
> 
> WTF? Was my response to 2033 too, what the hell are they building there?!



Big yes to Metallica!

This is stunning
great work
I didn't know it had closed


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## smiler (May 31, 2015)

Are Metallica the rotten bar-stewards who rip up floorboards to get at the copper pipes?, Lovely pics and report DJ, most enjoyable, Thanks


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## oldscrote (May 31, 2015)

How sad that is,I went there once in the sixties with me mum and dad to an ideal home exhibition.It was a lot of walking and I remember they had electric foot massages to ease aching feet

WTF? Was my response to 2033 too, what the hell are they building there?![/QUOTE]

This

http://www.myearlscourt.com/sites/default/files/earls_court_pdfs/EarlsCourtExecSummaryWeb.pdf


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## HughieD (May 31, 2015)

Wow....stunning set. What a waste of such a iconic place eh? Just as well you got in there and documented it DJ.....


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## UrbanX (Jun 1, 2015)

Groundbreaking (pun intended) Stuff from you mate. 
Awesome photos too, you've done the place proud! 
This is gonna take some beating, thanks for sharing


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## flyboys90 (Jun 1, 2015)

Brilliant take on a very intriguing building scheme.


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## rockfordstone (Jun 1, 2015)

i went here a few years ago for the IHS, such a shame that they can tear down a landmark like this and replace it with a faceless retail park, but i guess that's the world we live in


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## DirtyJigsaw (Jun 1, 2015)

oldscrote said:


> How sad that is,I went there once in the sixties with me mum and dad to an ideal home exhibition.It was a lot of walking and I remember they had electric foot massages to ease aching feet
> 
> WTF? Was my response to 2033 too, what the hell are they building there?!



This

http://www.myearlscourt.com/sites/default/files/earls_court_pdfs/EarlsCourtExecSummaryWeb.pdf[/QUOTE]

Nice one on that link!


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## DirtyJigsaw (Jun 1, 2015)

UrbanX said:


> Groundbreaking (pun intended) Stuff from you mate.
> Awesome photos too, you've done the place proud!
> This is gonna take some beating, thanks for sharing



Thanks very much UrbanX  
Yeah, im feeling pretty good about getting in here and getting some photos, cheers


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## tumble112 (Jun 1, 2015)

Like everyone else, I find it hard to believe that this place is going. Superbly done as usual, those escalator shots are my favourites.


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## DirtyJigsaw (Jun 1, 2015)

tumble1 said:


> Like everyone else, I find it hard to believe that this place is going. Superbly done as usual, those escalator shots are my favourites.



Thank you, the escalator shot looking up is my fave!


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## night crawler (Jun 1, 2015)

Aww dam that place brings back memories I remember going to see Phil Collins there with my wife years ago and I took my sons to a video game exhibition, think he went back the following year as well. Great shame it is going doubt if what replaces it will be the same


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## B7TMW (Jun 2, 2015)

Its Criminal that they are demolishing this place. I have so many memories of going there in the 70's and 80's with my parents to the Ideal Home exhibition and the Motor Show.

I was only there in March 2014 for the last Ideal Home show. I had no idea it was this close to demolition!


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## DirtyJigsaw (Jun 2, 2015)

B7TMW said:


> Its Criminal that they are demolishing this place. I have so many memories of going there in the 70's and 80's with my parents to the Ideal Home exhibition and the Motor Show.
> 
> I was only there in March 2014 for the last Ideal Home show. I had no idea it was this close to demolition!



I know, it's crazy, I heard it was going and I had heard I was too late, so I'm glad I checked it out to see it one last time. So much history


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## skunk (Jun 4, 2015)

Went to the brit awards in 2002 and seen kylie minogue sad to see it go


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## mockingbird (Jun 17, 2015)

dunno how I missed this, probably as not on here often, but I love that escalator shot! brilliant stuff chap you have made this rather desirable


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## crazyjon (Jun 21, 2015)

Sad to see this been to a few Royal Tournaments here back in the 70's n 80's and PLAZA in 2010 even smoked a joint in the place when they had the last ever Royal Tournament in there back in the 90's that was interesting as the place was full of all sorts of officials that day lol


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## DirtyJigsaw (Jun 21, 2015)

mockingbird said:


> dunno how I missed this, probably as not on here often, but I love that escalator shot! brilliant stuff chap you have made this rather desirable



Thanks mate, yeah, that's my fave shot too tbh


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## Newage (Jun 21, 2015)

Pink floyd,pall McCartney 

Nuff said
Newage


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## zane2g (Jun 25, 2015)

Seeing this makes me sad 
The end of an era.... Good bye old friend :-(


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## Ace5150 (Jul 5, 2015)

Very sad for me as I won a gold medal in a team event in 1984 at the Hotel Olympia held at Earls Court and my abiding memory performing in front of the judges was I'm on the same stage that Led Zep played on!


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## Farmerboy (Jul 9, 2015)

I remember seeing Metallica there too! My first arena gig! Think I also saw an awful Red Hot Chili Peppers gig there to


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## DirtyJigsaw (Jul 10, 2015)

So many memories everyone has of this place. Im lucky to have stepped in there for one last time


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## Potter (Jul 26, 2015)

Great work, and excellent selfie. I'm amazed that this is going, but I do like what is going to be built.


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## DirtyJigsaw (Aug 9, 2015)

Potter said:


> Great work, and excellent selfie. I'm amazed that this is going, but I do like what is going to be built.



Cheers  I actually passed this last night as it goes and its still standing atm


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## Old No.13 (Aug 12, 2015)

Wow I'm shocked. Great photos but I do feel a little sad seeing this!!!


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## Gromr (Sep 22, 2015)

Amazing report. Seems crazy it was only last year I saw Arcade fire play there.


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## DirtyJigsaw (Sep 23, 2015)

Yeah, its a shame its going/gone


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