54...a photos on Flickr

The building of the most famous London Bridge a structure of stone, was begun in 1176 during the reign of King Henry 2nd - the builder appointed being Peter of Colechurch.

The physically arduous construction work was to take thirty-three years .

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Unfortunately before too many decades had passed the bridge roadway had become obstructed by shops or merchants places that had been permitted there so that revenue be raised towards bridge building costs. . Eventually there were as many as two hundred such businesses.

As centuries passed the crossing of the bridge became almost an impossibility, a crisis state of affairs developed that was only resolved by an Act of Parliament that directed that many be pulled down. The demolitions were completed during the years 1758 to 1762.

[The above drawing of London Bridge with numerous structures built upon it - is from a magic lantern slide .]

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A Ford near Kingston.

Over eleven hundred years before, in the summer of b.c.54 a large Roman invasion force commanded by Julius Caesar had sailed to Britain from Gaul. Despite being met with intense native resistance his army moved towards London , to do so, crossing the Thames

at a ford near Kingston.

Some of the British tribes, after suffering high loss by their unsuccessful resistance, submitted to Caesar or sued for peace - which he granted subject to tribute terms.

Caesar did not remain long, he and his troops returned to Rome carrying off a number Britains to be sold as slaves in the public market. His expedition was not considered profitable and had cost many lives . It was to be ninety years before the Romans returned.

Traitor !

However return they ultimately did, but only after a British prince named Beril had journeyed to Rome to seek the great power's military support in controlling ever warring British tribes.

Rome having thought it in its own interest, agreed to Beril's request and in the year 43 a large force led by General, Aulus Plautius - set out to invade Britain. It had the considerable advantage of the native knowledge and guidance given it by prince Beril . Consequently the invasion force easily landed and gained territory. It was joined for a short while by Emperor Claudius.

At that time, though the Roman general Vespasian was by rank second in command to Beril , it was the true Roman, Vespasian, that conducted military matters. He fought thirty-two battles against the Britons and ravaged Britain's south.

Eventually, Plautius was replaced by Ostorius and the centuries long Roman presence in Briton was begun.

The Romans left .

When the Romans left Britain circa the year 410 a three-hundred and twenty years occupancy was ended . Suddenly, both foreign and native marauders had unhindered opportunity to loot property and seize land. The Britons couldn't repulse every determined enemy . Their ( Roman built ) Thames bridge fell into disrepair, deliberately neglected, so it could not to be a convenience to raiders.

William the Conqueror rebuilt the wooden bridge, but it was destroyed in 1091 in the ‘London Tornado’. It was also rebuilt and repaired by both William II and King Stephen.

Pillaging - London City

The Romans built the first version of what was to become London Bridge. This was probably a pontoon style crossing and it linked the Roman roads called Stane Street and Watling Street with the Camulodnum settlement.

The bridge was made more permanent by the Romans in about 55 AD and, although the bridge was probably destroyed during the revolt led by Queen Boudicca, it would have been rebuilt and the town of Londinium ( London ) grew around it.

It is recorded that in the year 457 fugitives from a body of looting Saxons fled London (the city) by the then Thames bridge (certainly a Roman structure) : but it was to be another seventy years ( 527 ) before the successful conquering invasions by Saxons and their neighbours, the Angles, took place. Almost simultaneously, the Angles overran the area now known as East Anglia as Saxon fighters, having taken Essex, advanced into Middlesex and seized London .

Wealth

The London of that old time was a place of considerable trade . Of its streets and surroundings modern eyes would recognise little. Its dwellings were confined to what is still called the city, a place within walls that had been built by the Romans. Beyond it was open country, mostly unenclosed. To its north, a marsh covered the space called Moorfields and the adjoining Finsbury. At its west was an area of undergrowth, called Thorney Island, now the site of Westminster Abbey. At the south only a few building lay on the banks of the Thames; beyond them was marshy ground extending to the rise of the Surrey hills.

Centuries later, by the year 1014, another London bridge, a wooden construction, straddled the river Thames .

The First Stone Bridge

The building of the most famous London Bridge a structure of stone, was begun in 1176 during the reign of King Henry 2nd - the builder appointed being Peter of Colechurch.

The arduous construction was to take thirty-three years .

It was not until the year 1209, in the time of King John , that the bridge was finally completed.

Though the finished bridge was not celebrated for any particular structural elegance or embellishments other than it having been given a chapel dedicated to the memory of Thomas Becket constructed near the middle of its span. Its nineteen irregularly spaced arches firmly held its three hundred yards of roadway (give or take a few agricultural cart lengths) high above the River Thames as had been intended.

Unfortunately before too many decades had passed the bridge roadway had become obstructed by shops or merchants places that had been permitted there so that revenue be raised towards bridge building costs. . Eventually there were as many as two hundred such businesses.

As centuries passed the crossing of the bridge became almost an impossibility, a crisis state of affairs developed that was only resolved by an Act of Parliament that directed that many be pulled down. The demolitions were completed during the years 1758 to 1762.

To enable better navigation of the river two narrow centre arches were removed and replaced by a much wider single one . Previously the narrowness of the water channels through the bridge's arches had obstructed the free flow of the river's tidal waters and caused river craft to face dangerous (weir-like) dangerous obstructions.

In winter the water upstream of the bridge froze.

19th Century Stone Bridge.

On the 1st August 1831 a new bridge over the Thames was opened . The bridge of 1209 had served for six hundred and two years.

www.flickr.com/photos/lenton_sands/29939127710/in/datepos...

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2014_12_04_Dohuk_IDPs_sam_tarling_MH_8370 by Caritas Internationalis

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Moza Mohammad, 54, a displaced Muslim from Bartala, near Mosul who fled with her extended family of 18, sits with some of her grandchildren in the small house they share with her five sons, their wives and children in the village of Kindala near Zakho, on December 5, 2014.

They fled their home in August, when Islamic State militants overran their town. The so-called Islamic State is a radical Islamic militant group that controls territory in both Iraq and Syria. The fall of Mosul in August and the subsequent advances by IS thought to have displaced over 500,000 people, most of whom were Yazidis, Christians and other minorities, but also Muslim families too.

Jala told Caritas: “When we arrived the house was in a very bad condition. There was many cracks in the walls. The floor was dirty. It was miserable.The roof was wet and leaking. The house was empty and we had nothing at all.

But then Caritas arrived and started supplying us with materials. They gave us the blankets, the mattresses and even this carpet. They even gave us clothes and bed sheets. We came here with only the clothes we were wearing but thanks to god and thanks to Caritas we now have winter clothes.

“All the glass was broken in the windows and Caritas has fixed them.” The family also had their roof repaired and re-sealed and a rudimentary sewage system installed.

“We came her with no money, nothing. If Caritas hadn’t helped us we couldn’t live here. They supplied us with everything. “

The 94m2 single story home is typical of the 47 houses in the village, all of which have received similar levels of assistance from Caritas. Built originally by refugees fleeing the war between the Kurds and Saddam Hussein’s forces, the village has been bombed and rebuilt numerous times and was mostly deserted before the IDP’s moved here.

Jala’s wife, Moza, 54, said that even though Caritas’ assistance had been of great help, life was still hard. “We had four houses in Batula, one for each of my sons and they were full of everything.”

2014_12_04_Dohuk_IDPs_sam_tarling_MH_8379 by Caritas Internationalis