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The removal of human waste (poo to you) in London and other major cities was a massive problem. As we saw from last time, cholera outbreaks in London were numerous. In 1853 and 1854, over 10,000 Londoners died from cholera. In 1858 London had a very hot summer and the smell from the River Thames, where all the sewage waste went, was so bad it was known as the 'Great Stink of London'.
Luckily the Houses of Parliament are near the Thames so MP's decided to do something about it. Joseph Bazalgette, the chief engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works, was given responsibility for the work. He designed an extensive underground sewerage system that diverted waste to a part of the River Thames, east of London, where it was then treated before being released into the Thames again and thence out to sea. The system was officially opened in 1865 but wasn't completed until 1875
The new sewers he built were behind embankments, which is a wall built alongside a river. This is why London still has places like the Victoria Embankment and the Albert Embankment. I'm not sure who went to Queen Victoria and said “excuse me ma'am, we're building a wall to hide the sewers, may we name it after you and your late husband”, but I guess someone did. There is also a stop on the London Tube called Embankment.
The tunnels built to take the sewage were made of concrete. A man called Joseph Asbin had devised a new way of making concrete back in 1824 using something called Portland Cement. Its name came about because it is similar in colour to Portland Stone, quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. The Romans had used concrete but they made it with volcanic ash which is good if you live near a volcano.
Mr Bazalgette's sewers were almost 100 miles (160 kms) in total length and they were linked to another 450 miles of main sewers which, in turn, were linked to almost 13,000 miles of smaller sewers. All of these certainly reduced the pollution and many are still in use today.
However the poor in London really did live in terrible conditions. Houses were small, food was scarce, streets were filthy with rubbish, disease was everywhere. In this year a man called William Booth and his wife Catherine founded an organisation which is still around today, now all over the world. At first they called it the East London Christian Mission but we know it today as the Salvation Army.
They would go in among the poor and provide soup, soap and what they called salvation. In other words they wanted to feed the poor, clean the poor and save them from what they saw as being left out of God's kingdom. They had a uniform and often a band would play the hymns set to more uplifting music than that heard in church. The Salvation Army have done much good over the years and yet, as with so many religious organisations, there has been controversy too.
I thought you might like to hear the music to one of their popular hymns.
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