February 2010

Explore the Apollo archive

Look back over two vibrant years of Apollo: browse every issue from January 2006 to the present day.

Just after dawn on 16 May 1968, on the 18th floor of a block of pre-cast, system-built flats in Cleaver Road, Canning Town, Mrs Ivy Hodge, a 56-year-old cake decorator rose from her bed as usual. In the kitchen, she struck a match to light the stove for her early morning cup of tea. Then the trapped gas explosion caused by the flame instantaneously blew out the whole of the top, south-east-facing corner of the building, killing four and injuring another 17, and setting in motion a public inquiry whose scathingly critical report concluded that the 200-foot, 22-storey, forever thereafter infamous Ronan Point had literally been bolted together with nothing more than a builder’s box full of rust-encrusted pins.

Print this article   |  Email to a friend |  Subscription offers | Comment

1   2   3   Next