I have a very proud family history, who have predominately lived in Crystal Palace, and the surrounding area in Croydon since the mid 19th century!
My grandad was a young boy when sadly the Crystal Palace burnt down in 1936, the palace was sadly completely destroyed, with reports of the melted glass going down Anerley Hill like lava. The fire was so intense, there were reported sightings of the red glow from the fire in Brighton.
My Grandad as a boy, together with his friends, explored the ruins and collected some fascinating pieces of local history. He obtained two sections of the original melted glass, together with a piece of marble from one of the internal water fountains inside the palace itself, which is shown in the picture sent to me from my Grandma.
You can see in the photos attached to this blog, and sent by my Grandma, that the steel structure inside the piece of glass has melted, and the piece of marble exploded into multiple pieces, this is from the very extreme heat of the fire.
These fantastic pieces of our local history, have remained in my family possession ever since. My Grandma has them proudly displayed in her glass cabinet in the Livingroom.
I grew up in Crystal Palace, the area has a very fascinating history, and I never fail to be fascinated, and in ore of my Grandmas fantastic collection!
