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The Chester-Perry Co

Where is the C-P Building?

 
 

Sir Reginald has built his monolithic Headquarters near the centre of a great city - but which? For the first twenty years it was never named. In the 1980s there are a few direct references - these are listed elsewhere. As far as the early days go, we must look for clues.

Bristow commutes to work on the Southern Region of British Hi-Speed Rail. Although now lost in the chaos of privatisation, the old Southern Region in the real world mainly served commuters from Kent, Surrey and Sussex into London.

In one strip, 4378a
Strip 4378a was drawn for Saturday May 5,1975 and therefore was not published in the Evening Standard. It was published in Bristow Latest from where this scan is taken.
Jones and Bristow are playing desk-top football.  Jones persuades Bristow (suffering from the attentions of the handicapping committee) to play, tempting him by letting him represent Fulham whilst Jones plays Chelsea. It is unlikely that two non-Londoners would support these clubs, particularly Fulham who were unfashionable in 1975 when the strip was published. The two clubs were in different divisions at the time, but Chelsea were relegated to Division 2 at the end of the 74/75 season, joining Fulham there.

Although we never see Bristow use a London Underground tube train or take a red bus, there is a strip when a typical London black cab is drawn (stationary outside the C-P building, trapped by a vast crowd listening to one of Fudge's tirades)

The Myles and Rudge extension comes directly to the attention of the Ministry for the Environment because the Minister himself can see it from his office. All Ministers are based in London.

The city is huge, large enough to present over-flying aircraft with unbroken stretches of concrete.

The evidence seems clear enough. The Chester-Perry building is somewhere in Central London. Obviously. And by extension Bristow's home in East Winchley must also be in London or very close to it.  We know that he aims for the 8:15 commuter special and intends to reach his office by 9:00 am at the latest. So his bedsit cannot be more than about 25 miles away. Unfortunately one cannot be more precise than that on the present evidence.

 

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