Monday, February 04, 2008

1947 shedworking home

"The fuselage of a Horsa glider - the type used by airborne troops in World War II - is being converted into a home for a London businessman by Mr. Arthur Bedford, a building contractor at Southbourn, Bournemouth, Hampshire. The glider-home will have three rooms - a bedroom measuring 10 ft by 7 ft, a living room 15 ft by 7 ft, and a kitchenette 8 ft by 7 ft. If the experiment is successful, the builder will convert more gliders. People baffled by the housing shortage will be able to have these homes built quite cheaply on their own sites. Photo shows men working on the exterior of the glider-home - 11th June 1947."
Via TopFoto. Thanks to Ben Locker for the alert.

5 comments:

  1. Living there must have been a little tough. The width of the glider house couldn't have been more than five feet or so.

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  2. Anonymous9:54 PM

    I'd have said 7ft, seeing as all the rooms were XXft x 7ft. :-) Certainly a squeeze though!

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  3. Search Youtube for "Horsa" - you'll actually find a video of Horsas being turned into houses - amazing stuff. One turned up in Oxfordshire a few years back at Cholsey - now in a museum collection.

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  4. Thanks for this Adrian. I've posted again about this as you suggested.

    Yes, small but cosy.

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  5. I was slightly involved in recovering the Cholsey Horsa mentioned by Adrian. It went to the Mosquito Museum at London Colney and I heard it was sold on to make a replica. I thought it was at Arnhem but local friends tell me it's now in the Pegasus Bridge replica. I have more history of it if required.
    If you can't email direct, reverse this phone number
    592256-19410.

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