Aerial photograph of Craven Cottage in 1928...

[LBNo11]

...from Phil Cowan's the History Of Fulham Programmes site:-

www.fulhamfootballprogrammes.co.uk

If you have never visited this site before you are in for an absolute treat...

[jarv]

Great photo. Not too many cars about in those days.

[HatterDon]

What is that complex of buildings to the left of the Cottage as we're looking at it?

[MOR :]

What is that complex of buildings to the left of the Cottage as we're looking at it?

If you mean behind the Hammersmith End I think it was a wood yard.

[MJG]

So where the hell are all the sailing boats from the boat club who keep going on about how long they have sailed on the river..etc etc etc.

[alfie]

I can see my house from here.....

[ron]

Not much different up to about 1962 when the floodlights came in, (then a couple of years later when we covered the Hammersmith  End with Alan Mullery !)

[ron]

So where the hell are all the sailing boats from the boat club who keep going on about how long they have sailed on the river..etc etc etc.

All the old toffs were down at the Town Hall complaining that women were getting the vote or that the working classes who went on General Strike should be hanged or something like that....

[Scrumpy]

Nice one. Not much seating in those days was there?

[LBNo11]

....thanks for that gem Scrumpy, both shots show the early terracing made from the spoil of the Shepherds Bush tube working...

[Berserker]

What is that complex of buildings to the left of the Cottage as we're looking at it?

I wondered that as well. Is that all part of the wharf area around the Crabtree. Also when was the photo taken and were the banks just grass?

Great photo's by the way

[Andy_M]

For us younger fans these pictures are a real eye opener. Although I'm starting to feel like 25 isn't that young anymore.

[MJG]

What is that complex of buildings to the left of the Cottage as we're looking at it?

Also when was the photo taken and were the banks just grass?

I noticed that as well, I wonder if the wall/embankment was put in when the Miller stand was built, any real oldies able to answer that?

[Senior Supporter]

I can see part of the old reservoirs on the opposite river bank, but never realised that there used to be a golf course almost opposite the ground. Presumably that disappeared before the end of World War II.

[FFCAli]

When were the flagpoles put up along the back of the riverside terrace?

[LBNo11]

When were the flagpoles put up along the back of the riverside terrace?

...I believe around 1965/6. they replaced the big advertising hoardings that brave fans could get a elevated (and precarious) view from. I think the flags came down at the end of the 1968/69 season, maybe somebody knows for sure as I'm only relying on my..wotsit, you know, brain thing, begins with 'm' or is it an 'n'...

[cmg]

Well, my memory is a pretty ropey commodity, but I'll give it a run out. (Dates approximate)

The ground would have been pretty much as pictured when I first went there. (Selhurst Park had grass banks above the terracing, but CC was always all concrete steps with metal crush barriers, in my time). Soon after we went up ('59) the terraces were extended both ends (might have taken two seasons with the Hammersmith End done first). Floodlights went up in 1962 (before then we had 2.15 k.o's in the winter). Round about this time the old half-time scoreboard on the riverside was replaced by a weird electric board. The Hammersmith End covering (as has been said, financed by the Mullery sale.) went up in 1965. It was about that time that the electric half-time scoreboards were re-erected under the ends of this 'new' covering. I say 'new' as it was, in fact, a startlingly old-fashioned structure at  a time when cantilever roofs were going up all over the place. I'd say the flagpoles went up about the same time ('65/'66). To start with the flags were changed every home match to represent league position. When this became too much of a hassle, or when it became embarrassing that we were always near the bottom (I think away supporters started nicking 'their' flags, too) they were kept in alphabetical order. When we went down ('68) the club said they wouldn't bother buying a new Div 2 set because they would only be needed for one year. They were spot on there - we ended up in Div 3 at the end of the season! After that the flag idea faded away and the poles disappeared soon afterwards to be replaced in 1972 by the Riverside Stand (still with a post in the middle) which almost sunk the club for good.

[The Equalizer]

I can see part of the old reservoirs on the opposite river bank, but never realised that there used to be a golf course almost opposite the ground. Presumably that disappeared before the end of World War II.

I was just wondering the same. I had no idea that Barn Elms was a golf club once upon a time!

[FFCAli]

Although not in the photo, Barn Elms was more famous for polo

[Peabody]

Well, heres my take on it. When I first started going. The terraces were not concrete but earth, with wooden stays in front to keep the step shape. There was also the famous orange cinder track around the pitch. I believe the concrete steps came in when we were promoted to the old First Division in 1949.

The buildings behind the Hammersmith end were indeed a Wood Yard and as you walked along Stevenage Road (there was no Thames side walk then ) towards Hammersmith there lots of wharfs ending with ESSO.