Item RSP/7/k/7 - Photograph: The School of Architecture

Photograph showing School Head John S Walkden talking to prospective student Peter Adams.

Labelled on reverse 'Central Office of Information Photograph. Crown Copyright reserved (See Feature Set Into No.210 The Working Man's University: The First Polytechnic. The demand for evening education in Britain far exceeds facilities. After a full day's work a large proportion of the adult population hurry to evening institutes and polytechnics to learn, at a very low cost, the 'know-how' that modern industry and commerce insists of its workers. More than 11,000 people in the evenings, and 2,500 during the day attend courses for further education at the regent Street Polytechnic, where the twelve departments and three craft courses are designed almost exclusively for the vocational student who has reached the age of seventeen (there is no maximum age) and has passed Matriculation or an equivalent University entrance examination.'

Separately labelled 'D47581 (8) One of the most important schools at the Polytechnic is for Architecture, Surveying and Building. The Headmaster, John S Walkden F.R.I.B.A., Dist.T.P., M.T.P.I, F.R.I.A.S., interviews all students before acceptance, and here he is having a final talk to 19 year old Peter Adams, whose father is (a past) President of the Town-Planning Institute in Britain. His uncle holds (held) a corresponding position in the United States of America and his grandfather was Founder-Member of the Institute. The model in front of the desk is of the (a) proposed concernt hall for the Regents Park site, built by Walter Greaves, an ex-student of the school'. The label has been annotated with corrections (indicated by brackets above) and notes regarding the dates corrections were phoned to the Central Office of Information.