Railways and Victorian London seem inseparable but it is easy to forget that in the nineteenth century the majority of the haulage of people and goods around London’s streets was still performed by horses and most people got around on foot.
The first underground railway opened in 1863, others followed, as did surface railways, but as far as public transport was concerned the horse bus and horse tram were the main forms of transport right into he 1890s.
Coal, as well as general merchandise, arriving in London by rail had to be delivered from goods depots to the consumers and this, of course, was almost all done using horses. So, until the internal combustion engine became a practicality, the number of horses, and people working with them, increased steadily.
In the 1870s Gustav Dore produced an impression of traffic congestion in a view looking down Ludgate Hill towards St. Paul’s. There are dozens of horses in this picture of traffic gridlock and the confusion is not helped by someone trying to drive a herd of sheep through the streets!
Covering such topics as ‘The Early Days of the Underground Railway’, ‘Railways and the Pursuit of Pleasure’, ‘The Supply of Coal, Food and Drink’, ‘Railway Crime’, ‘Sherlock Holmes and London’s Railways’ David Brandon provides a fascinating record of some of the dramatic changes brought about during the industrial revolution which contributed to the transformation of our capital city.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Brandon is also a highly respected historian and a prolific author. He runs a variety of courses and lectures on topics such as Absolute Rotters and Total Cads - Villains in British History and You Are What You Eat - Food and Eating Habits 1550-2000.
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| Publication: |
May 2010 |
Extent: |
128 pages |
| Availability: |
In stock |
Images Mono: |
90 |
| Format: |
235 x 165 mm |
Images Colour: |
0 |
| Binding: |
Paperback |
