- MY LIFE AND TIMES by Keith McCree -
Imperial College is in the heart of Victorian London, near the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Albert Hall and Kensington Gardens. The Technical Optics Section of the Physics Department was in the Royal College of Science, across from the Queen's Tower (which we called the Collcutt Tower in honor of the man who built it). The tower was part of the Imperial Institute. The Institute was demolished in 1967, but the tower still stands.
I had a room in Mrs. Morelli's flat in the King's Road, Chelsea. I rode my bike to work, past the terraced houses of South Kensington. As a matter of fact, I rode it through much of Central London. Only a man from the colonies would dare to do this.
While in London I took full advantage of the rich cultural life. I regularly went to concerts at the Royal Festival Hall, and enjoyed exploring the Tate Gallery. In May of 1956 I saw the first performance of John Osborne's landmark play 'Look Back in Anger' at the Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square.I was also witness to a political event that marked the end of the British Empire as I knew it. In 1956 the British government under Anthony Eden ordered British troops to join French and Israeli forces in invading Egypt. This was in response to President Gamal Abdul Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal, which had been owned by a British and French company. The American government under President Eisenhower refused to support the invasion and it failed.
The chief drawback to London was the filthy air. Most houses were heated with open fireplaces that burned coal. The coal smoke mixed with winter fog to produce air that was often unbreathable. In addition, smoking was permitted in almost all public places. I contributed to this pollution. After a colleague who was working on ultraviolet radiation and skin cancer joked about our "cancer sticks", I decided that I had to quit, and stopped cold about a year later. It was probably too late: I had to deal with cancer in three internal organs 30 years later.
