DEVASTATED AREA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 April 1942, Page 4

DEVASTATED AREA

IN VICINITY OF ST. PAUL’S

An indication of the extent of the devastated area, in the vicinity of St. Paul’s Cathedral is given in a letter received by Messrs J. Graham and Co., Ltd., Masterton, from a London firm. The letter states, in part, “Of the 35 export buying offices in Chiswell Street before the great fire ours will be the only one remaining, until rebuilding takes place after the war. At the present time our premises are surrounded on both sides by ruined walls, and shells of buildings which the demolition workers are gradually bringing to the ground, and clearing away. Cn the side opposite an area of several hundreds of yards by nearly half a mile deep has been cleared of debris, and we can look out on St. Paul’s Cathedral three-quarters of a mile away, with practically nothing between to prevent a full length view of Wren’s masterpiece. Beyond the ruined area in Chiswell Street, the first premises to resist the fire were those of Whitbreads Brewery, who own the famous ‘choice wells,’ mentioned in Pepy’s Diary, which gave its name to the street. Between those buildings and our own, a matter of 250 to 300 yards, there is nothing on either side of the road that, can possibly be repaired.”