The 1944 Olympics should have been held in: London But: there was a big World War on at the time So: London was awarded the 1948 Games instead.
Olympic snapshots: Wembley Stadium Then: A lot of mopping up and rebuilding needed to be carried out after the Second World War. Nevertheless London willingly took on the responsibility of hosting the 1948 Olympics, the first to be held following a twelve year wartime hiatus, and they did so on a shoestring budget. The Games cost just £¾ million to stage, with existing facilities being used wherever possible and athletes housed not in some expensive new village but in schools, homes and even military barracks. And for its Olympic arena London turned to Wembley, the nationalstadium built two decades previously for the opening of the British Empire Exhibition in 1924. The Wembley Olympics ran successfully and smoothly, remembered best perhaps for a dashing Dutch housewife and not for Great Britain's lowly 12th place in the medal table. My history of Wembley Stadium is here, and there's more about events at the 1948 Olympics here. Now: After years of vacillation and political wrangling, the famous twintowers have fallen. In their place, ever so slowly and worryingly behind schedule, a new 21st century Wembley Stadium is rising into the Brent sky. You can see the white Wembley Arch [stats: weight 1750 tonnes, length 315m, height 133m] across half of London, but I chose to take a look from close up. This photo is taken from the perfect viewpoint of Sherrins Farm Open Space, a grassy kickabout zone hidden away on the opposite side of the Chiltern railway line. The changing facilities are non-existent, the pitch slopes downhill and any goalposts are almost certainly knitted, but it's currently the only place round here where budding Beckhams can still play ball.
Olympic snapshots: Olympic Way Then: Olympic Way, a long (and very wide) pedestrian thoroughfare, was built for the 1948 Games as a crowd control measure to link the stadium to the nearby tube station. This brutal minimalist walkway carved through what had once been gardens and across the site of an ornamental lake, more's the pity. But look behind the modern hotdog stall and you can still see the remains of one of the glories of the 1924 BritishEmpireExhibition - the Palace of Industry. In its heyday this vast 13 acre hall contained dazzling examples of British invention, including a coal mine and real pit ponies, and was constructed as one of a pair with the neighbouring Palace of Industry. Elsewhere on site were built opulent pavilions relative in size to the perceived importance of various Commonwealth countries, so Australia, Canada and India were afforded rather more space than Nigeria, Burmah and Ceylon. Now: With the exception of several thousand Indian families, the nations of the new Commonwealth have long abandoned Wembley. Only a very few buildings from the Empire Exhibition remain, and those that still stand have been subsumed into a rundown retail park of furniture shops and carpet warehouses. The Palace of Industry has become a shabby shadow of its former self with jaundiced paint peeling from the pioneering concrete walls. The interior of this former exhibition space has been brutally subdivided and now houses, amongst other light industrial delights, a fleet of White Arrow delivery vans. Meanwhile Currys and JD Sports nextdoor stockpile white goods and sweatshop trainers mass-produced in the rising economies of the Far East. The glory days of Empire lie unnoticed and forgotten.
Olympic snapshots: Live Aid Then: On Saturday 13th July 1985 the world returned to Wembley, either on foot or via satellite, for the Live Aid concert. I was a student at the time and three of my flatmates were lucky enough (and solvent enough) to get tickets. While they stood on the hallowed turf of Wembley Stadium in the presence of greatness (and Nik Kershaw), I sat at home watching the entire event on my portable black and white television. From Status Quo to Paul McCartney the top pop acts of the eighties (and a few dodgy hangers-on) kickstarted their failing careers with a few unforgettable performances. Those who'd never heard of U2 suddenly had, and those who'd heard of Duran Duran suddenly wished they hadn't. But, more importantly, the world's conscience was pricked as the plight of poverty-stricken Africans was given the prominence it so desperately deserved. Now: And so it is again today, with the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park. Say what you like about Bob Geldof (and the words 'gobby', 'opinionated' and 'stubborn' spring to mind) but his persistence has certainly helped to launch the issue of world poverty much higher up the global agenda. Hurrah. Only the silent cheers of 20 years ago will echo round Wembley Stadium today, but at least the original event is commemorated in this tiled mosaic on the approach to Wembley Park station. Look, it's that Dire Straits bloke with the annoying bandana, that Tina diva with the frizzy perm, showman Freddie in his finest hour, and some anonymous drummer who has too much hair to be Phil Collins. Today the torch finally passes to the new generation of (supposed) international musical megastars, but I bet nobody erects a mural in Hyde Park to commemorate the event.
The London Olympics: 1948
Then: A lot of mopping up and rebuilding needed to be carried out after the Second World War. Nevertheless London willingly took on the responsibility of hosting the 1948 Olympics, the first to be held following a twelve year wartime hiatus, and they did so on a shoestring budget. The Games cost just £¾ million to stage, with existing facilities being used wherever possible and athletes housed not in some expensive new village but in schools, homes and even military barracks. And for its Olympic arena London turned to Wembley, the national stadium built two decades previously for the opening of the British Empire Exhibition in 1924. The Wembley Olympics ran successfully and smoothly, remembered best perhaps for a dashing Dutch housewife and not for Great Britain's lowly 12th place in the medal table. My history of Wembley Stadium is here, and there's more about events at the 1948 Olympics here.
Then: Olympic Way, a long (and very wide) pedestrian thoroughfare, was built for the 1948 Games as a crowd control measure to link the stadium to the nearby tube station. This brutal minimalist walkway carved through what had once been gardens and across the site of an ornamental lake, more's the pity. But look behind the modern hotdog stall and you can still see the remains of one of the glories of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition - the Palace of Industry. In its heyday this vast 13 acre hall contained dazzling examples of British invention, including a coal mine and real pit ponies, and was constructed as one of a pair with the neighbouring Palace of Industry. Elsewhere on site were built opulent pavilions relative in size to the perceived importance of various Commonwealth countries, so Australia, Canada and India were afforded rather more space than Nigeria, Burmah and Ceylon.
Then: On Saturday 13th July 1985 the world returned to Wembley, either on foot or via satellite, for the Live Aid concert. I was a student at the time and three of my flatmates were lucky enough (and solvent enough) to get tickets. While they stood on the hallowed turf of Wembley Stadium in the presence of greatness (and Nik Kershaw), I sat at home watching the entire event on my portable black and white television. From Status Quo to Paul McCartney the top pop acts of the eighties (and a few dodgy hangers-on) kickstarted their failing careers with a few unforgettable performances. Those who'd never heard of U2 suddenly had, and those who'd heard of Duran Duran suddenly wished they hadn't. But, more importantly, the world's conscience was pricked as the plight of poverty-stricken Africans was given the prominence it so desperately deserved.
Then: A lot of mopping up and rebuilding needed to be carried out after the Second World War. Nevertheless London willingly took on the responsibility of hosting the 1948 Olympics, the first to be held following a twelve year wartime hiatus, and they did so on a shoestring budget. The Games cost just £¾ million to stage, with existing facilities being used wherever possible and 
Then: Olympic Way, a long (and very wide) pedestrian thoroughfare, was built for the 1948 Games as a crowd control measure to link the stadium to the nearby tube station. This brutal minimalist walkway carved through what had once been gardens and across the site of an ornamental lake, more's the pity. But 
Then: On Saturday 13th July 1985 the world returned to Wembley, either on foot or via satellite, for the 