West Ham and the River Lea

West Ham and the River Lea
Author: Jim Clifford
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2017-08-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 0774834269
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During the nineteenth century, London’s population grew by more than five million as people flocked from the countryside to the city to take up jobs in shops and factories. In West Ham and the River Lea, Jim Clifford explores the growth of London’s most populous independent suburb and the degradation of its second largest river, bringing to light the consequences of these developments on social democracy and urban politics in Greater London. Drawing on Ordnance Surveys and archival materials, Jim Clifford uses historical geographic information systems to map the migration of Greater London’s industry into West Ham’s marshlands and reveals the consequences for the working-class people who lived among the factories. He argues that an unstable and unhealthy environment fuelled protest and political transformation. Poverty, pollution, water shortages, infectious disease, floods, and an unemployment crisis provided an opening for a new urban politics to emerge. By exploring the intersection of pollution, poverty, and instability, Clifford establishes the importance of the urban environment in the development of social democracy in Greater London at the turn of the twentieth century.

Urban Rivers

Urban Rivers
Author: Stephane Castonguay
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2012-05-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 082297794X
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Urban Rivers examines urban interventions on rivers through politics, economics, sanitation systems, technology, and societies; how rivers affected urbanization spatially, in infrastructure, territorial disputes, and in flood plains, and via their changing ecologies. Providing case studies from Vienna to Manitoba, the chapters assemble geographers and historians in a comparative survey of how cities and rivers interact from the seventeenth century to the present. Rising cities and industries were great agents of social and ecological changes, particularly during the nineteenth century, when mass populations and their effluents were introduced to river environments. Accumulated pollution and disease mandated the transfer of wastes away from population centers. In many cases, potable water for cities now had to be drawn from distant sites. These developments required significant infrastructural improvements, creating social conflicts over land jurisdiction and affecting the lives and livelihood of nonurban populations. The effective reach of cities extended and urban space was remade. By the mid-twentieth century, new technologies and specialists emerged to combat the effects of industrialization. Gradually, the health of urban rivers improved. From protoindustrial fisheries, mills, and transportation networks, through industrial hydroelectric plants and sewage systems, to postindustrial reclamation and recreational use, Urban Rivers documents how Western societies dealt with the needs of mass populations while maintaining the viability of their natural resources. The lessons drawn from this study will be particularly relevant to today's emerging urban economies situated along rivers and waterways.

Derelict London: All New Edition

Derelict London: All New Edition
Author: Paul Talling
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2019-07-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1473560233
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______________________________ The huge word-of-mouth bestseller – completely updated for 2019 THE LONDON THAT TOURISTS DON’T SEE Look beyond Big Ben and past the skyscrapers of the Square Mile, and you will find another London. This is the land of long-forgotten tube stations, burnt-out mansions and gently decaying factories. Welcome to DERELICT LONDON: a realm whose secrets are all around us, visible to anyone who cares to look . . . Paul Talling – our best-loved investigator of London’s underbelly – has spent over fifteen years uncovering the stories of this hidden world. Now, he brings together 100 of his favourite abandoned places from across the capital: many of them more magnificent, more beautiful and more evocative than you can imagine. Covering everything from the overgrown stands of Leyton Stadium to the windswept alleys of the Aylesbury Estate, DERELICT LONDON reveals a side of the city you never knew existed. It will change the way you see London. ______________________________ PRAISE FOR THE DERELICT LONDON PROJECT ‘Fascinating images showing some of London’s eeriest derelict sites show another side to the busy, built-up capital.’ Daily Mail ‘Talling has managed to show another side to the capital, one of abandoned buildings that somehow retain a sense of beauty.’ Metro ‘Excellent . . . As much as it is an inadvertent vision of how London might look after a catastrophe, DERELICT LONDON is valuable as a document of the one going on right in front of us.’ New Statesman ‘From the iconic empty shell of Battersea Power Station to the buried ‘ghost’ stations of the London Underground, the city is peppered with decaying buildings. Paul Talling knows these places better than anyone in the capital.’ Daily Express ‘[London has an] unusual (and deplorable) number of abandoned buildings. Paul Talling’s surprise bestseller, DERELICT LONDON, is their shabby Pevsner.’ Daily Telegraph ______________________________

Disarming Hitlers V Weapons

Disarming Hitlers V Weapons
Author: Chris Ransted
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2013-09-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1473829674
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An account of the “brave men of the bomb disposal units who died disarming the weapons that Hitler hoped would save the Nazis from defeat” (Dover Express/Folkestone Herald). In 1944 the V-1s and V-2s, Hitler’s “vengeance” weapons, were regarded by the Allied leaders in London as the single greatest threat they had faced. It was feared that these flying bombs and rockets might turn the tide of war once again in Germany’s favor. Yet, little more than half of these missiles hit their targets, some failing to explode. Their wreckage lay across the southern half of England or in Europe, with contents liable to sudden and deadly ignition. It was the job of specialist Bomb Disposal teams to render the V-weapons safe and uncover their secrets. This is their story. In this unique book Chris Ransted has investigated the work of these unsung heroes who risked their lives every time they were called into action and, in the course of his research he has located the sites of many of the unexploded V-weapons, revealed here for the first time. Ransted also details the methods used by the Bomb Disposal men and the equipment they used. The book is richly illustrated with 266 photographs and diagrams, many of which have never previously been published. In completing this, the most comprehensive study of its kind, the author describes the deeds of those gallant Bomb Disposal men that were awarded one of the highest honors which could have been bestowed upon them by their country—the George Medal. “A particularly thorough and enlightening book.”—Military Vehicle Trust

London's Lost Rivers

London's Lost Rivers
Author: Paul Talling
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2020-04-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1409023850
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Packed with surprising and fascinating information, London's Lost Rivers uncovers a very different side to London - showing how waterways shaped our principal city and exploring the legacy they leave today. With individual maps to show the course of each river and over 100 colour photographs, it's essential browsing for any Londoner and the perfect gift for anyone who loves exploring the past... 'An amazing book' -- BBC Radio London 'Talling's highly visual, fact-packed, waffle-free account is the freshest take we've yet seen. A must-buy for anyone who enjoys the "hidden" side of London -- Londonist 'A fascinating and stylish guide to exploring the capital's forgotten brooks, waterways, canals and ditches ... it's a terrific book' - Walk 'Pocket-sized, beautifully designed, illustrated and informative - in short a joy to read, handle and use' -- ***** Reader review 'Delightful, informative and beautifully produced' -- ***** Reader review 'A small gem. A really great book. I can't put it down' -- ***** Reader review 'Fascinating from start to finish' -- ***** Reader review ************************************************************************************************ From the sources of the Fleet in Hampstead's ponds to the mouth of the Effra in Vauxhall, via the meander of the Westbourne through 'Knight's Bridge' and the Tyburn's curve along Marylebone Lane, London's Lost Rivers unearths the hidden waterways that flow beneath the streets of the capital. Paul Talling investigates how these rivers shaped the city - forming borough boundaries and transport networks, fashionable spas and stagnant slums - and how they all eventually gave way to railways, roads and sewers. Armed with his camera, he traces their routes and reveals their often overlooked remains: riverside pubs on the Old Kent Road, healing wells in King's Cross, 'stink pipes' in Hammersmith and gurgling gutters on streets across the city. Packed with maps and over 100 colour photographs, London's Lost Rivers uncovers the watery history of the city's most famous sights, bringing to life the very different London that lies beneath our feet.

This Other London: Adventures in the Overlooked City

This Other London: Adventures in the Overlooked City
Author: John Rogers
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 366
Release: 2014-04-22
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0007557183
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Join John Rogers as he ventures out into an uncharted London like a redbrick Indiana Jones in search of the lost meaning of our metropolitan existence. Nursing two reluctant knees and a can of Stella, he perambulates through the seasons seeking adventure in our city’s remote and forgotten reaches.