One thing that struck me about the Ideal Home Show was the venue; how large it was, its design and all that ironwork. And then it clicked it'd make a great black and white photo. Well in fact it's so big that I needed more than one photo to do it justice so this week it's making a short series of black and white photos!
Olympia first opened on Boxing Day in 1886 as the National Agricultural Hall and in 1888 it hosted its first Horse of the Year show. It covered an area of 4 acres and The Grand Hall measuring 450 feet long and 250 feet wide (that's 140 x 76 metres) was said to be the largest building in the UK covered by one span of iron and glass. Today there are four event venues and a conference centre, but the remarkable iron and glass structure remains in place, and I'm glad they do.
