Another Big Stink - Deja vu

Coffee at 05:00 and then off for a walk. A nice sunny start with a walk along the Thames and then through Southwark Park. Racked up 10,000 steps in no time. The Treadmill has now helped me walk faster.

It much better spirits today but this follows on nicely from my Strike 1 of yesterday.

My Blip is of artwork used for a hoarding outside the development of the Thames Water Main Sewer. What caught my eye is shown in the Thumbnail. Third extra shows the panel in detail. This reflects “The Big Stink” between July/August 1858.

The supporting images are of sunrise over the Thames and the old warehouses of Shad Thames which are in keeping with the story below.

Plans to solve the pollution of the River Thames were proposed in1828 by John Martin for providing pure water. ‘It was too far ahead of its time’. ....Cholera arrived in London for the first time in 1832, having started in Sunderland the previous year despite quarantine restrictions. 6536 died in London and an estimated 20,000 nationally.’

History always repeats itself. One solution back then was to soak the Palace of Westminster’s curtains in chloride of lime to protect the sensibilities of the MPs. Oh well back to reading Private Eye. It has a great cover this week. There is a picture of Matt Hancock our Health Minister with a speech bubble “ the only thing you can pin on me is my badge”.