788 Battersea

These public artworks by artist David Appleyard celebrate the pioneering aviation endeavours of the Short Brothers and Charles Rolls, and their connection to the railway arches at Prince of Wales Drive, Battersea.

As children, Horace, Eustace and Oswald Short dreamed of ‘How grand it would be to float in space’. By 1906, as Aeronautical Engineers, they worked from Arches 75 and 81. Supported by Charles Rolls, they built around thirty ‘lighter than air’ balloons in Battersea, filled with gas from the adjoining gas works. By phoning or sending a telegram to 788 Battersea, it was possible to charter a balloon flight across the channel to France or Belgium.

‘Banshee’, ‘Nebula’, ‘Condor’, ‘Valkyrie’ – a few of the giants of Battersea that were once seen rising just to the north, on a field beside a huge gas works and the Thames, just beyond these arches. In late Victorian/early Edwardian London, these arches made their mark as a centre for ballooning. The balloons were named, much like ships, by their owners, and piloted by plucky daredevils. The Short Brothers made their name by crafting balloons of excellence in their workshops under railway arches 75 and 81, supported by their regular patron and fellow innovator, Charles Rolls (Rolls Royce). Records were broken and history made, including continental flights and the first woman to qualify for an Aeronaut’s Certificate. The Short Brothers’ story still continues to unfold, existing as Short Brothers plc, an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and employing over 5,000 people.

Written by Annie Thirlwell-Hicks

Artworks by David Appleyard 

Commissioned by Susie Gray and Dallas-Pierce-Quintero for St William.