Brrr!

Londoners get used to seeing animals that you might not expect in the city. Visitors to Docklands often see seals – apparently there are over 700 living in the Thames, while a regular sight on the Strand is a gentleman walking his ferret. It’s unlikely that any Books & the City readers have seen a pig floating down the Thames on an iceberg, or an elephant walking across the river, but these events really happened during the last Frost Fair in the winter of 1814.

Frost Fair held on the Thames, February 1814 (Image property of Westminster City Archives)

200 years ago, according to the Cheltenham Chronicle of 20 January 1814

“A pig was yesterday seen sailing down the river Thames between Westminster and Blackfriars-Bridge on a large fragment of ice, with great gravity. He occasionally squeaked with peculiar shrillness, which a waterman construing into a paii [?] for a pilot, he put off and after a long contest with the floating masses of snow, he succeeded in delivering the swinish navigator from his perilous situation”

By the start of February the Thames was frozen over completely and the last Frost Fair was underway. According to the Times of 2 February,

“The Thames …continued to present the novel scene of persons moving on the ice, in all directions and in greatly increased numbers. The ice, however, from its roughness and inequalities is totally unfit for amusement though we observed several booths erected on it for the sale of small wares; but the publicans and spirit-dealers were most in receipt of custom…we did not hear of any lives being lost but many who ventured too far towards Blackfriars bridge were partially immersed in the water by the ice giving way.”

You can check out the Times of 1814 for yourself by logging in with your Westminster library card on our Online Resources page.

The Frost Fair lasted for four days. A sheep was roasted, skaters skated, skittles were bowled, enterprising printers set up presses to print cards and flyers ‘on the ice’, and a good time was had by all (except the sheep). One printer, George Davis, managed to publish a 124 page book during the fair. It was called (deep breath now)

Frostiana; or, A history of the River Thames, in a frozen state; with an account of the late severe frost; and the wonderful effects of frost, snow, ice, and cold, in England, and in different parts of the world; interspersed with various amusing anecdotes. To which is added, the art of skating

You can read a rather splendid facsimile of this book as part of the John Johnson Collection, another of our online resources that you can access simply by entering your library card number.

Once the ice melted after four days, that was the end of Frost Fairs in London. However it was not the last time the Thames froze – there was plenty of ice in 1895 and the river froze at Windsor in 1963. However, the demolition of the  old London Bridge (which originally had 19 arches that slowed the flow of the river) and the building of a new one in 1831, plus the creation of the Embankment led to a faster flowing river. Sadly it’s unlikely any of us will be skating to work along the Thames any time soon, but you can still find a reminder of the Frost Fairs in the pedestrian tunnel on the south side of Southwark Bridge where there is a series of engraved friezes by the sculptor Richard Kindersley including the inscription

Behold the Liquid Thames frozen o’re,
That lately Ships of mighty Burthen bore
The Watermen for want of Rowing Boats
Make use of Booths to get their Pence and Groats
Here you may see beef roasted on the spit
And for your money you may taste a bit
There you may print your name, tho cannot write
Cause num’d with cold: tis done with great delight
And lay it by that ages yet to come
May see what things upon the ice were done

[Nicky]

2014 – a year to remember

While 2013 was a good year for anniversaries, what with Doctor Who and the JFK conspiracy theories both celebrating their 50th birthdays and the crossword reaching its century, 2014 looks to be even more memorable. We’ll be posting lots about the centenary of the start of the First World War during the course of the year (and the Music Library’s Behind the Lines project is already well established), so let’s see what other anniversaries we have to look forward to in 2014.

January

While the Daily Express has predicted that this will be the worst winter for 60 years (just like it does every year), it is unlikely to be as cold (or as fun) as the winter of 1814 when the Thames froze over so solidly that an elephant was able to cross at Blackfriars. On 22 January a pig was spotted sailing down the river on a miniature iceberg. Sheep were roasted, stalls were set up and there was even an icy casino. You can read contemporary accounts of the last Frost Fair by logging into our newspaper archives using your Westminster library card.

February

2 February brings the 100th anniversary of the film debut of Londoner Charlie Chaplin in Making a Living. More importantly though, a few days later on 7 February, Chaplin made his first appearance as the Little Tramp in Kid Auto Races at Venice. By the end of World War I, the boy who had grown up in poverty in Lambeth was one of the most famous people in the world. You can find out more about him in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (log in with your library card).

March

We at Treasure Hunt Towers are big fans of World War II films and one of the finest is The Great Escape. The real Great Escape took place 70 years ago, on March 24/25 1944. As most readers will know, the attempted escape from Stalag Luft III ended in tragedy with the murder of fifty of the escapers, to the horror of the Luftwaffe as well as the Allies. Incidently, Donald Pleasance, who played the doomed forger, had himself been a POW in Stalag Luft I.

April

2 April 2014 sees the 100th anniversary of the birth (in Maida Vale) of one of the greatest actors of all time, Sir Alec Guinness. Check out some of his films and autobiographical books and celebrate someone whose work ranged from Dickensian villains, through Popes, spies and inter-galactic superheroes but was never less than brilliant. And if you were too young to see him on stage, check out some reviews in our newspaper archives.

May

Many of us will have made new year resolutions and few will keep them going for long, but this year you might find some inspiration on 6 May when we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first Four Minute Mile by Roger Bannister. While the record itself was broken at the Iffley Road track in Oxford, Bannister did most of his training at the Paddington Track near St Marys Hospital where he worked. The track reopened in 2012 and is the home to the Serpentine Running Club. Check out the British Pathe site for news coverage of the event.

June

Delving further into the past, 23 June is the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn when Robert the Bruce defeated the invading English army lead by Edward II.  Expect to hear a lot more about this in the run up to the Scottish referendum – impress your Caledonian friends with some research in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (and see if they know what Robert the Bruce died of…).

July

From 28 July onwards, remembrance of World War One will be foremost in all our minds – more of which in later posts.

July also sees the 300th anniversary of the passing of the Longitude Act. This offered a prize of £10,000 to £20,000 for a method of calculating longitude and, as readers of Dava Sobel’s excellent book will know, the first person to succeed was John Harrison, a clockmaker who lived in Lincolnshire. His persistence and that of Rupert Gould (who restored Harrison’s timepieces) were the subject of a television film in 2000. Once again, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography can tell you more, or you can visit the Royal Observatory to see Harrison’s clocks.

August

2014 is the 75th anniversary of an exceptional year for cinema. 1939 saw the release of Gone with the Wind, Goodbye Mr Chips, Wuthering Heights and a particular favourite at Treasure Hunt Towers, The Wizard of Oz. There are many legends associated with this story (Is the book a parable of  the economic crisis of the late nineteenth century? Did a Munchkin die during its making?) But the most amazing story of all involved the coat worn by Frank Morgan who played the Wizard himself as well as Professor Marvel.

September

In addition to the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II (more of which in later posts), September 2014 sees the 60th anniversary of the opening of Kidbrooke School, the first purpose-built comprehensive. Now renamed Corelli College, it is perhaps better known as the place where Jamie Oliver fed the pupils his healthy school dinners and tried to start a revolution in school food.

October

Expect an outbreak of silly walks, dead parrots and a quartet of Yorkshiremen in October, as this is the month of the 45th anniversary of the first broadcast of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Expect too some pedantry from devotees pointing out that the Four Yorkshiremen sketch was actually written for At Last the 1948 Show. With their new stage shows in July, this is certainly going to be the year of the Python so prepare to be bombarded with repeats, DVD reissues and endless interviews. Just sit back and enjoy…

November

On 20 November 1994, millions of people up and down the land crossed their fingers and thought “It could be me…” as they watched the first National Lottery draw. Nobody at Treasure Hunt Towers has ever been successful at picking the right numbers, but perhaps we’re in the wrong job. According to recent news reports, the luckiest profession to be in is office administration. You’d think we’d do better considering lotteries were invented by librarian (amongst other things) Giacomo Casanova.

December

And finally, 17 December sees the 25th anniversary of the first broadcast of The Simpsons, starring America’s favourite yellow family. Cowabunga!

[Nicky]

The Big Chill

Riding a carriage over the frozen Serpentine in 1826. Image property of Westminster City Archives.

The recent cold snap in London brings to mind legendary winters of the past, when the mighty and ancient River Thames froze completely and became a venue for great Frost Fairs. The last fair was held in 1814, but do the increasingly harsh winters of recent years suggest such an occurrence may once again be possible?

The Archives Centre’s Book of the Month, Ian Currie’s Frosts, Freezes and Fairs profiles a thousand years of great freezes and describes in fascinating detail the excitement and the hardship that these rigorous times bestowed upon the Capital.

The Thames Frost Fair of 1814. The frozen surface became very treacherous as it began to melt – this picture shows a man falling through a thin patch of ice. Image property of Westminster City Archives.

You can also find more about historic winters in Westminster through our new online project, A Date with History. Images and stories are posted daily, opening up the collections of Westminster City Archives to create a vibrant, virtual journey through Westminster’s past. Discover the story of a daring exploit to ride a carriage across the frozen Serpentine, admire fashionable ski-wear available in the shops of 1920s London, and find out how Londoners made the most of the harsh winters of yesteryear.

[Michelle]