Tag: WJ Bassett-Lowke

78 Derngate

March 17th, 2025
A recent road trip to visit family and friends in the South of England offered an ideal opportunity to visit 78 Derngate, Northampton.

Regular readers will recognise the address as the home of WJ Bassett-Lowke (1877-1953), an entrepreneurial model engineer and amateur photographer and film-maker.

A selection of his 3D stereocards bought during an eBay auction featured in a series of Pressphotoman posts during January and February.

WJ Bassett-Lowke blogpost series

78 Derngate, a wedding present from WJ’s father, was remodelled in 1916 by the celebrated architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928).

Indeed, it was his last major architectural commission, so as a photohistorian and lover of all things Mackintosh, my visit to 78 Derngate held a number of attractions.

I wasn’t disappointed.

The original Georgian house sits on a terraced street though it was once on the edge of Northampton rather than close to the town’s busy hospital as it is today.

Front elevation of 78 Derngate, Northampton. 11th March 2025. Author’s photo.

As you approach, number 78’s black front door, featuring Mackintosh’s signature style, immediately marks it out as does the rear elevation complete with balconies.

Rear elevation of 78 Derngate, Northampton. 11th March 2025. Author’s photo.

My arrival coincided with a guided tour of the property that lasted more than an hour, but which flew by in a whirl of information to accompany the visual and design delights of each room.

From 78 Derngate, Northampton Souvenir Guide (78 Derngate Trust, 2005).

The guest bedroom (above) was once occupied by the playwright George Bernard Shaw, a keen photographer himself, whilst the sitting room (below) is almost too dazzling to spend a lot of time in.

From 78 Derngate Northampton Souvenir Guide (78 Derngate Trust, 2005).

There is so much to take in on one visit, but my attention was caught by a display case featuring cameras that WJ wielded at various points.

The serendipity of adding a dozen of his stereocards to my collection, taken between 1900 and 1904 when he was launching the model train business that bore his name, has continued.

In a subsequent eBay transaction with the same seller, I was fortunate enough to secure a further five Bassett-Lowke cards.

In addition, I bought an Underwood & Underwood stereo titled ‘The Children’s Paradise – A German Toy exhibit in the Industrial Arts Building’ taken at the 1900 Paris Exposition.

It was during his visit to Paris that WJ saw the model railway engines built by German companies from Nuremberg that inspired the future direction of Bassett-Lowke Ltd.

My favourite of the latest cards is a stereo of the famous Frauenkirche on the edge of the city’s market square.

It is taken from ‘A Tour of Germany’ that he and his business partner Harry Franklin undertook in April 1900 and is numbered on the verso as ‘35.’

The clock tower shows the time as ten past one and a market stall holder in the foreground appears to be on her way to lunch.

‘Frauenkirche, Nuremberg’ by WJ Bassett-Lowke, April 1900. © Author’s collection.

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Bassett-Lowke: Part 3

February 10th, 2025
The name Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke (1877-1953) was new to me until I came across it recently on a series of 3D stereocards for sale on eBay.

Bassett-Lowke Ltd., the company he co-founded, is known to model and miniature railway enthusiasts in Britain as a by-word for quality.

As a photohistorian though, I wasn’t aware of WJ Bassett-Lowke’s photography.

From Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke by Janet Bassett-Lowke
(Rail Romances, Chester, 1999).

However, a dozen of his stereos, now in the Pressphotoman collection, have provided material for this mini-series of pieces about his life around 1900 as a talented young entrepreneur.

Bassett-Lowke: Part 2

As described in Part 2, the attendance of WJ (as he was known) at the 1900 Paris Exposition introduced him to German toymakers.

In time, they became Bassett-Lowke’s long-term business partners.

©️ Author’s collection.

WJ’s love of travel, particularly around Europe, was clearly a major influence on his life as illustrated by stereos taken during a trip to Normandy in 1904.

These dark-coloured cards edged in gold are stamped ‘Stereoscopic Photography’ on the left-hand side and ‘WJ Bassett-Lowke, Northampton’ on the right.

The first features a shot taken on board ship, perhaps crossing the English Channel en route to France.

©️ Author’s collection.

Two further cards feature the popular Normandy tourist destinations of Mont St. Michel and Honfleur.

©️ Author’s collection.

©️ Author’s collection.

Both are fine examples of the stereoscopic art.

Mont St. Michel has a scaffolding structure visible to the left of frame whilst the Honfleur ‘street scene’ features a small group leant against a wall to the right of frame.

Such excursions with camera in hand provide evidence of both WJ’s sharp eye and attention to detail.

What I didn’t know before researching these pieces is that he also played a pivotal role in the creative life of the celebrated architect and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928).

During the First World War, Mackintosh was commissioned to re-model a modest Georgian house at 78 Derngate, Northampton that became home to Mr. Bassett-Lowke and his wife Jane.

Their front door hints at the wonders within.

From Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke by Janet Bassett-Lowke
(Rail Romances, Chester, 1999).

The result is the only place outside his native Scotland where Mackintosh’s mature architectural and interior style can be seen in their original setting.

You can visit 78 Derngate, which has been renovated and restored in recent years.

https://www.78derngate.org.uk/about-78-derngate

To conclude this mini-series, here are two undated stereos that give a flavour of WJ’s consummate skill as a stereographer.

One captures a group of children dancing down the street, possibly St. James in Northampton, accompanied by a barrel organ glimpsed to the extreme left of frame.

©️ Author’s collection.

The second is a beautifully shot interior of Coutances Cathedral in Normandy (1904) with a stunning use of natural light.

©️ Author’s collection.

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Bassett-Lowke: Part 2

February 3rd, 2025
The model railway pioneer Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke (1877-1953) was also a skilled photographer and later cine filmmaker.

According to his niece Janet Bassett-Lowke, who wrote a 1999 biography of her uncle: “Photographs were even taken by WJ in stereograph (3D).”

From Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke by Janet Bassett-Lowke
(Rail Romances, Chester, 1999).

As described in Part 1 of this blogpost mini-series, a recently discovered cache of his stereocards not only sheds new light on his photography.

Bassett-Lowke: Part 1

They also capture a key moment in the evolution of the Bassett-Lowke company, which had began life producing parts for miniature steam engines by 1899.

The following July, WJ travelled from Northampton to visit L’Exposition de Paris 1900.

As a World’s Fair, it celebrated the achievements of the past century and showcased the latest developments for the one to come.

According to his own account, WJ’s decision to visit was inspired by reports in local newspapers.

These “aroused my curiosity and interest … there was a good collection of mechanical toys and also some Continental scale models to be seen there.”

Armed with his 3D camera, he travelled to Paris with a friend.

Frank Jones, his future brother-in-law whose family ran a Northampton shoe company, was going to look at the Fair’s leather section.

All the major commercial stereoscopic companies produced sets of 3D cards capturing the event in detail.

So it’s interesting to see how an amateur yet skilled stereographer tackled the same task.

The Eiffel Tower built for the 1889 World’s Fair features in three of the four WJ cards shot in Paris that now in the Pressphotoman collection.

©️ Author’s collection.

This one stamped with its location (left) and date and stereographer credit (right) is captioned on the verso: “Looking towards the Trocadero from the Eiffel Tower.”

©️ Author’s collection.

From the Eiffel Tower’s second stage, he recorded this pin-sharp image of the panoramic scene below.

©️ Author’s collection.

It is captioned on the verso: “View from 2nd stage of the Eiffel Tower looking towards the Main Entrance.”

©️ Author’s collection.

The third stereo features a night-time scene on the banks of the River Seine that must have been particularly challenging to capture photographically.

©️ Author’s collection.

WJ’s other Paris stereo was taken in one of the Machine Halls and gives a flavour of the innovative technology on show.

©️ Author’s collection.

The view features an unusual overhead travelling crane made by the Carl Flohr company of Berlin whose logo can be viewed in the centre of shot.

Elsewhere, WJ’s attention was grabbed by miniature model railways with locomotives, coaches, wagons and other accessories, also produced by German companies.

“One of the finest displays was that of … Bing Bros. of Nuremberg,” he wrote later.

It was a business connection that led in time to Bing and other ‘Toymakers of Nuremberg’ supplying a range of model trains to Bassett-Lowke specifically designed for the British market.

These started appearing in the company’s catalogues from 1901.

A visit to Germany to finalise exact details of this production deal may well have prompted ‘A Continental Tour’ undertaken by WJ that May.

Nuremberg was among the locations listed beneath the stereo images of a hotel where WJ perhaps stayed.

©️ Author’s collection.

In the final part of this series, enjoy more WJ stereo views taken during a trip to Normandy in 1904.

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Bassett-Lowke: Part 1

January 27th, 2025
The name Bassett-Lowke will be familiar to model and miniature railway enthusiasts in Britain and around the world.

The company co-founded in the late-1890s by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke (1877-1953) became a by-word for its high-quality products.

Today they’re revered by collectors and enthusiasts.

Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke (1877-1953).

However, I knew nothing of any of this when I came across ‘WJ Bassett-Lowke, Northampton’ stamped on a series of stereocards during a recent eBay trawl.

Curious to learn more, my initial research revealed that ‘WJ’ was an accomplished photographer from his teens.

Delving further into his life story, a fascinating biography published in 1999 by his niece Janet included one sentence on page 35 that stood out.

“Photographs were even taken by WJ in stereograph (3D),” she wrote.

Thanks to a helpful American eBayer, who was selling a large collection of WJ Bassett-Lowke stereocards bought at auction in England, I was able to purchase a dozen dated between 1900 and 1904.

In a short Pressphotoman series over coming weeks, I’ll explore what these cards add to the established narrative about their creator.

From Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke by Janet Bassett-Lowke
(Rail Romances, Chester, 1999).

By the time the photograph above was taken, ‘WJ’ was in thrall to photography.

His father ran a firm of engineers, boilermakers, and iron and brass founders in Northampton.

In one of its outbuildings, WJ had the run of a photographic dark room.

As well as an enthusiasm for model engineering and cycling, he shared a passion for photography with his father’s bookkeeper, HFR (Harry Foldar Robert) Franklin.

By 1899, the pair had set up a business making parts for small model engines that grew into the much-loved Bassett-Lowke company.

The following Spring, they undertook ‘A Tour in Germany’ that may have had a model engine purpose.

The earliest two stereocards I bought are dated ‘April 1900’ on the verso and feature both their names on the front of the cards.

©️ Author’s collection.

The first card, numbered ’33’ on the verso, suggesting it came from a series of views, features a street scene in Frankfurt.

©️ Author’s collection.

The second numbered ’34’ portrays the famous Hauptmarkt in Nuremberg, which looks spectacular in 3D.

©️ Author’s collection.

It is a scene recognisable today because of the twin towers of the medieval St. Sebaldus Church, here seen partly shrouded in scaffolding.

The church was extensively damaged during the Second World War and has since been restored, so WJ’s stereo has added historical value.

This Germany tour is not mentioned in Janet Bassett-Lowke’s biography of her uncle.

But she does highlight his attendance three months later at the 1900 Paris Exposition as “the most momentous decision in WJ’s life.”

It was while in Paris, she recounts, that he was impressed by the sheer quality of the mechanical toys and continental scale models displayed by German companies.

Nuremberg in particular was widely acknowledged as a centre of excellence for manufacturing model locomotives.

Could it be then that the tour of Germany including Nuremberg was a precursor to what happened in Paris when key business connections were made by WJ and Harry Franklin’s fledgling company?

In my next Pressphotoman post, I’ll explore a number of scenes from the 1900 Paris Exposition as captured by WJ’s 3D camera.

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