[BITList] Some oldest surviving photographs of Victorian London

John Feltham wantok at me.com
Mon Jul 30 02:40:17 BST 2012




 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180284/Photographs-Victorian-London-todays-capital-took-shape.html
A tale of two cities: Some of the oldest surviving photographs of Victorian London show how today's capital took shape


28 July 2012

As attention turns to Britain's capital, it seems the world - for the next two weeks at least - revolves around London.

But there was a time when it was the planet's most important city every day of the year, as the hub of the empire and home of industrial innovation. 

The dizzying rate at which our country changed during the latter half of the 19th century clearly inspired Danny Boyle's Olympic spectacular - and now these photographs, dug out from the archives of the Museum of London, provide an invaluable document of the real thing.


Forgotten trade: A shoeblack, pictured in 1877, stands by his equipment. Many of the city's streets were lined with such workers trying to sell their skills



Jam: London Bridge, shown around 1880, is packed with a steady stream of horses and carts

Historian Alex Werner is the man behind their rediscovery, having compiled them in his latest book. He calls it Dickens's Victorian London, the title making these historical scenes instantly recognisable as the settings conjured up by the UK's best-loved novelist.

Last night's opening ceremony, with its enormous cas and life-size factory smokestacks, told the story of the birth of modern Britain through the means of an incredibly extravagant stage production.


Charles Dickens, on the other hand, used only his fiction to bring to life the villains, the victims and the ordinary people of industrial London, portraying the city as a chaotic hive of bustle and smog.

His creations come to mind as here we see Cheapside and London Bridge congested not with hackney cabs and Routemaster buses but with horses and carts.

Notting Hill Gate station stands freshly completed and ready, long before the city's underground network became the (usually) well-oiled machine it is today.

And the Thames, now lined with tourist attractions, is seen in its prime - a working river and a key trade route, the starting point from which  Britain's influence spread.


Paving the way: Notting Hill Gate Station in West London, shortly after completion in 1868. The birth of the modern railway was crucial in moving the masses into and around this rapidly expanding city


Financial heart: Cheapside, with Bow Church in the background, was one of the most consistently busy areas of London, attracting street-sellers in droves



Changing fortunes: The Strand, which went through seedy a period of decline in the early 1800s before a resurgence that saw it become a hotspot for London's intelligentsia


Home of the press: Fleet Street, pictured circa 1870, hosted the city's publishing and news industry right up until the late 20th century


Crucial: A custom house on the Thames in around 1875, when the river was still vital to London's trade and was so polluted it earned the name 'the Great Stink'


Long gone: The towering gates of Millwall Dock, circa 1867, which remained active until the 1960s and is today the site of residential developments near Canary Wharf


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180284/Photographs-Victorian-London-todays-capital-took-shape.html#ixzz220vmPCbZ




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