Unfamiliar London
Digital Betacam video cassette (DigiBeta) unknown Unknown 1973 0:00
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Summary: Programme: 'Water'. Transmission Date: 20th December 1973. Running Time: 25:05 mins
Title number: 17563
LSA ID: LSA/20709
Description: Description: This programme opens in the water-testing laboratories at the Metropolitan Board of Water (MBW) and examines how London water is periodically screened for turbidity and contamination. Photographs are shown of the MBW building in Islington, followed by a brief history of how the New River (under Hugh Myddleton) and other similar companies developed. To illustrate this, old prints and maps detail the path of tributaries channelled into London and how they were distributed between social classes. The wealthier people in society would have received water to their homes, while the poor had only the local well as a source of water. This was later found to be the cause of epidemics including Cholera. The work of Joseph Bazalgette is examined and how instrumental his designs for a new sewer system proved to be. Film footage of how these sewers looked in 1973 is shown with the help of men known as 'flushers'. Using articles from the Illustrated News, the engineering behind Victorian sewers is explored, with a look at the development of the Victoria and Albert embankments and a visit to Abbey Mills pumping station, to inspect the ornate architectural decoration used. Colour/B&W: Black and White
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