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Joseph William Bazalgette was born at Hill Lodge, Clay Hill, Enfield, London in 1819 and began his career working on railway projects. In 1847 Bazalgette suffered a nervous breakdown. While recovering, London's Metropolitan Commission of Sewers ordered all cesspits closed and that house drains should connect to sewers and empty into the Thames. As a result, a cholera epidemic (1848-49) killed 14,137 Londoners. Bazalgette was appointed assistant surveyor to the Commission in 1849, taking over as Engineer in 1852, after his predecessor died. Soon after, another cholera epidemic struck, in 1853, killing 10,738. Championed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Bazalgette was appointed chief engineer of the Commission's successor, the Metropolitan Board of Works, in 1856.
In 1858, the year of the Great Stink, Parliament passed an enabling act, in spite of the colossal expense of the project, and Bazalgette's proposals to revolutionise London's sewerage system began to be implemented. Bazalgette's solution (similar to a proposal made by painter John Martin 25 years earlier) was to construct 1,800 km of underground brick main sewers to intercept sewage outflows, and 1,800 km of street sewers, to intercept the raw sewage which up until then flowed freely through the streets and thoroughfares of London. The outflows were diverted downstream where they were dumped, untreated, into the Thames. Extensive sewage treatment facilities were built only decades later. The system was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales in 1865, although the whole project was not actually completed for another 10 years.
Bazalgette's foresight may be seen in the diameter of the sewers. When planning the network he took the densest population, gave every person the most generous allowance of sewage production and came up with a diameter of pipe needed. He then said 'Well, we're only going to do this once and there's always the unforeseen.' and doubled the diameter to be used. Every Londoner should be grateful for this foresight as the then unforeseen was the tower block. If he had used his original, smaller pipe diameter the sewer would have overflowed in the 1960s. As it is they are still in use to this day. Bazalgette was knighted in 1875, and elected President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1883. There is a blue plaque in his honour where he lived at 17 Hamilton Terrace, St John's Wood.
A formal monument (above) on the riverside of the Victoria Embankment in central London commemorates Bazalgette's genius. The Victoria Embankment's construction began under his direction in 1865 and was completed in 1870. The original impetus was the need to provide London with a modern sewerage system and relieve traffic congestion on The Strand and Fleet Street. The project involved building out on to the foreshore of the Thames, narrowing the river. The cut and cover tunnel for the Metropolitan District Railway (now the District and Circle Lines of London Underground) was built within the Embankment and roofed over to take the roadway. At ground level, in addition to the new roads, two handsome public gardens were laid out. One of these backs onto the government buildings of Whitehall, and the other stretches from Hungerford Bridge to Waterloo Bridge. The gardens contain a large bandstand and the 1626 watergate of the former York House built for the Duke of Buckingham.
(4 September 1829 – 1 July 1906)
English temperance campaigner and radical, anti-imperialist Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1859 and 1906. He was recognised as the leading humourist in the House of Commons.
@ Victoria Embankment Gardens
Learning about low light photography is a winter project... and this is the 18th of my 100 days of winter.
The Southwark Bridge spans the River Thames in London with The Shard in the background at the right. A bridge has stood here since 1819 and the Southwark bridge carries the least amount of traffic across the River Thames in London.
An early 1970s view of the River Thames at Westminster with Charing Cross Railway Bridge in the foreground and Westminster and Lambeth Bridges in the centre.
This is a postcard that has no publisher’s name on the card but it was probably published by the Institute and available only from the Institute. This is about 1905 and shows the staff and governing body of the Central Police Institute at No. 1a Adelphi Terrace, just off the Strand and behind the Hotel Cecil as can be seen in the photograph. The Institute was founded in 1885 by Miss. Catherine Gurney who was a famous Christian philanthropist. She felt that the Police of the Metropolis and visiting officers from other provincial forces needed a place where they could stay where their Spiritual and Temporal needs could be catered for. Like many Soldiers homes at this time, it was alcohol and gambling free. The Institute was supported by the International Christian Police Association and at a fund-raising meeting in May 1898 at the Grosvenor Hotel, the Archbishop of Canterbury made a very pertinent comment which resonates today, “…the Police were exposed to special temptations in the performance of their duty, which demanded the sympathy and practical help of those who understand their special needs”. The Institute lasted to at least 1936 when Adelphi Terrace was demolished to make way for the art deco Adelphi Building which still stands. The annotations on the postcard referring to “Smuggler’s Cave” may refer to the tunnels and wharves which were left high and dry after the embankment of the Thames in the 1860s. The original Adelphi Terrace was built by the Adam brothers in the middle of the 18th Century on top of riverside wharves and vaults, whether smuggling went on is anybody's guess.
Grade II listed: installed during the 1870's and located upstream of similar-type Camel Benches. Looking out across the River Thames.
Photograph taken at 06:50am on July 19th 2012 of The Houses of Paliament, incorporating the Palace of Westminster, house of commons, house of Lords, the clock tower and the great bell known as Big Ben.
The Clock Tower was completed in 1859 and the Great Clock started on 31 May, with the Great Bell's strikes heard for the first time on 11 July and the quarter bells first chimed on 7 September. Photograph taken from the Hungerford Bridge towards the Victoria Embankment side A3211, Central London, England.
Nikon D7000 220mm 1/220s f/5.3 iso200
Nikkor AF-S 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR. UV filter. Nikon GP-1 GPS
LATITUDE: N 51d 30m 23.12s
LONGITUDE: W 0d 7m 19.03s
ALTITUDE: 19.0m
The school was established by an act of Parliament in 1834. The school occupied these premises from 1883 to 1986. It is now situated at 107 Queen Victoria Street, London.
A female Sympetrum striolatum in a partial obelisk position, the obelisk is usually a pose that Dragonflies go into when it is very hot and is used to prevent overheating. Here is what Wiki says :-
The obelisk posture is a handstand-like position that some dragonflies and damselflies assume to prevent overheating on sunny days. The abdomen is raised until its tip points at the sun, minimizing the surface area exposed to solar radiation. When the sun is close to directly overhead, the vertical alignment of the insect's body suggests an obelisk.
When the sun is low but the air is still hot, dragonflies may adopt a modified obelisk position with the abdomen only partially raised.
This female was found on an early evening walk around the Memorial Gardens by the Victoria Embankment, I think she is a fairly young individual. This one was found posing around the rockery area and the background is a sandstone rock. I made an interesting discovery as well, it seems the central fountains are a breeding ground for Darters, numerous exuviae were found on the stone edges and I observed numerous Darters ovipositing in tandem, I had assumed the water was treated, I assumed wrong, so an early rise I think to see if I can get some emerging Dragons :o)
Happy Dragonfly Thursday :o)
VIEW LARGE :O)
Another view snatched from the 59 bus as it crossed Waterloo Bridge. Nicely floodlit, this is the Art Deco Shell-Mex House that overlooks the Victoria Embankment. The Grade II listed building is also known as 80 Strand. It was completed in 1932, designed by Frances Milton Cashmore. The building ceased to have any connection with Shell after the 1990s. Latterly the headquarters of Shell UK, the company relocated and sold the freehold.
My son's wife is taking part in the London Landmarks Half Marathon, I am waiting to cheer her on when she gets to this point.
Took this really by accident; was meaning to get Parliament in shot with Westminster Abbey in the background, but I noticed this woman standing still at the crossing with the traffic zooming past; a slow shutter gives a nice contrasty shot - I think there's a cyclist in there somewhere.
The Kings Ferry of Gillingham, Kent Fleet No.407 FJ61 EXB.
A Volvo B9R with Salvador Caetano Levante CT650 C49FLT bodywork is seen here heading up Victoria Embankment, London.
Date: 12.05.2013 15:45
Day break over the City of London.
The horizon stretching from the left towards the City of London is the Victoria Embankment
The Victoria Embankment starts at Westminster Bridge, just north of the Palace of Westminster, then follows the course of the river bank north, past Hungerford Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, and then ends at Blackfriars Bridge.
It was completed in 1870 under the direction of Joseph Bazalgette, and was a project of the Metropolitan Board of Works. The original impetus was the need to provide London with a modern sewerage system. Another major consideration was the relief of congestion on The Strand and Fleet Street.
The project involved building out onto the foreshore of the Thames, thus narrowing the river. The construction work required the purchase and demolition of much expensive riverside property. The tunnels for the District Line were built underneath the Embankment. At ground level, in addition to the new roads, two handsome public gardens were laid out. One of these backs onto the government buildings of Whitehall, and the other stretches from Hungerford Bridge to Waterloo Bridge. The gardens contain many statues, including a monument to Bazalgette.
The water gate, its main historical feature, was built in 1626 for the Duke of Buckingham.
From
Classic Coaches of Annfield Plain, County Durham (part of TGM Group, a subsidiary of Arriva) FJ07 DWG.
A National Express branded Scania K114EB4 with Salvador Caetano Levante CT650 C49FT bodywork.
It is seen here operating Cambridge to London Express route 010 on The Victoria Embankment, London.
Note: FJ07 DWG has since been withdrawn and sold (I'm not sure who too).
Date: 12.05.2013 15:41
Panorama photographed from wilson's wharf in Durban. The original stictch was much longer and had some grass towards the bottom of the frame which is *almost* cropped out here.
The E-class lifeboat forms part of the RNLI fleet in the UK. The class was introduced in 2002 to serve the tidal reach of the River Thames, as a result of a much-delayed enquiry into the Marchioness disaster in 1989, in which 51 people died. The enquiry criticised the lack of a rescue service for the tidal Thames, which had not previously been covered by an RNLI rescue service, and the UK government asked the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Port of London Authority and the RNLI to work together to set up a dedicated search and rescue service for this stretch of the river.
There have been three different versions of the E-class, described as the Mk I, Mk II and Mk III. Mk I boats operated from 2002, but their service came to an end with the retirement of Legacy in 2021. As of December 2023, there are four boats in service, three Mk IIs, and a Mk III, split between Chiswick Lifeboat Station to the west of central London, and Tower Lifeboat Station at Victoria Embankment in central London. This is E-07, Hurley Burly, which came into service in 2012.
The Mk II was designed by RNLI engineers, incorporating experience gained with the Mk I boats, and built by Marine Specialised Technology in Liverpool. It has a GRP composite hull with a detachable polyurethane-covered solid closed-cell foam collar, and is powered by two Volvo marine diesel engines delivering 435 hp, driving Hamilton waterjets. This combination gives the boats an improved maximum speed of 40 kts.
The boat is 10.5m long, has a beam of 2.9m without collar and 3.5m with collar, a draught of 0.7m, a displacement of 5.4 tonnes and can carry up to four crew (but normally three). The maximum endurance at full speed is three hours.
All versions of the E-class carry a variety of rescue equipment including marine VHF radios, a first-aid kit, an emergency defibrillator, a GPS navigation system, night-vision equipment, a self-righting system, a radar interrogator, towing equipment, and lighting equipment
The Tower Lifeboat Station is operated by the RNLI. It is located at Victoria Embankment on the North Bank of the Thames, next to Waterloo Bridge, from which I took this shot. The pier takes its name from the original RNLI lifeboat station which opened in 2002 further downstream at Tower Pier, next to the Tower of London. In 2006 the lifeboat station moved to its present location at Waterloo Pier, formerly known as the Waterloo Police Pier.
The station is unusual in RNLI terms as it is staffed continuously to provide an immediate response and is coordinated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency from a Port of London Authority operations room at the Thames Barrier. Two of the three-person crew at each station are full-time and the third crew member is a volunteer. This enables the boats to arrive at any incident within 15 minutes.
Thanks for the visit, kind comments and faves... Have a great day... :o)
Large On Black shows more detail...
An anonymously published colourised postcard probably printed in Germany showing the view looking towards the north bank from Waterloo Bridge. The floating Thames Division police station on Waterloo Pier is about four years old having been rebuilt in 1900 and beyond, Somerset House and Victoria Embankment. Steaming its way upstream is the Thames Steamboat Company's "Kaiser" which was built in 1889 at Poplar by the Samuda Bros for the River Thames Steamboat Company. There is a story that during the late 1880s the managing director of the River Thames Steamboat Company was a German national, he named several other Paddle Steamers such as "Bismarck" whose name was changed to "Phyllis" in 1899 and "Empress Frederick" which worked on the Thames without a name change until 1911. The Empress Frederick, also known as the Kaiserin Viktoria was the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria who married Frederick III of Prussia and was the mother of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Kaiser Bill of WW1 fame. There was also a suggestion that a paddle steamer was named "Deutschland" but I cannot find any trace of her. The "Kaiser" worked on the Thames without a name change until 1909.
STUDENTS DayX3 NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
Protest and march against University tuition fee increases, 09th Dec. 2010
Over 20,000 students from around the country converged on Central London today to march for a third time to protest against the coalition government's plans to
massively increase University tuition fees, which will ultimately mean that far fewer students from poorer backgrounds will be able to even consider a University
education because of the massive debts incurred which will follow them for the rest of their working lives.
I joined the days proceedings in the afternoon as they were assembling in Trafalgar Square. To throw the police off-guard they suddenly took off, en mass, through
Admiralty Arch in a bid to get to Parliament Square, which had been forbidden. That evening the House of Commons was voting on the Education Funding Bill, and the
students were determined to make sure that Parliament heard their protests.
The day started in a good mood, but by the time they reached Parliament pockets of disorder had started breaking out - Flares were lit and thrown, crush barriers and
construction site fencing ripped up to be used as weapons against the massed ranks of riot police and later on the mounted police. I had to leave by around 3pm, and by
the time I got home and turned on the BBC news all hell had broken loose outside Parliament. Protesters were pelting the police with lumps of masonry, metal poles and
scaffolding. They lit large fires, broke down the doors to The Treasury and the new Ministry of Justice buildings, smashing many windows, daubing graffiti everywhere
and generally smashing up the joint. Many people were arrested and many people hurt, some badly.
As the police gradually started releasing the by-now contained protesters in small numbers, several small groups headed up to Oxford Street, where they smashed the
windows of the flagship TopShop store (owned by Sir Phillip Green who is being attacked for shovelling billions of pounds of what should be UK taxable income into tax
haven accounts owned by his wife as part of a legal tax dodge), and in Regent Street they engulfed the Bentley containing Prince Charles and his horse-faced wife
Camilla who were in the process of swanning orf the the Royal Variety Performance! The protesters started kicking the vehicle. They broke the windows and threw a tin of
white paint over the car. One was not amused!
Needless to say the Bill was passed in Parliament tonight, and the students have vowed to continue their campaign of demonstration and civil disobedience...
All photos ⓒ Pete Riches
Please do not use my photos without my prior agreement.
Please do not re-blog my photos without my agreement.
Email: peteriches@gmail.com