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ReflectionsonWater
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Contents
TheGreat Stinkof Londonpages 4–5
Daughter of theRiver pages6–7
Bath timeswiththe Romans pages8–9
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Introduction
All human beings need water,not only to drink butalsotokeep clean andhealthy. It canbeastruggle to find and keep asupplyof clean water, especially in cities. These texts areabout thecentral rolewater playsin people’s lives.
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This is an introductionto StephenHalliday’sbook TheGreat Stink of London.During Victorian times, there wereserious problems with water supplyand sanitation in London. Crisis point was reachedinthe summerof1858.
The GreatStink of London
In the mid-19th century, Britain wasgripped by thefearofcholera,ahighly infectious and deadly disease.When cholera struckHamburg in Germany, theBritishgovernment grew alarmed that this latest outbreak might spread to Britain. They decided to createaspecial committee to deal withthe expected epidemic.
However, the epidemicnever happened because of theworkof one man: Sir Joseph Bazalgette.
At that time, London’ssewageflowedstraight into the River Thames. From hereit leaked into adjacent springs, wells and other sources of drinking water. This wasthe root cause of cholera, awaterborne disease. Contemporary accounts describe London being crowded withmen,women andchildren struggling to surviveinterrible conditions. In 1849, one journalistreportedthat the air had ‘the smell of agraveyard,and afeeling of nausea comes over anyone unaccustomed to it.’About theThames, he wrote, ‘heavybubbles nowand then rise up in thewater, which is covered withascumlikean encrusted cobweb. In it float large masses of noxious, tangled weed and againstthe posts of thebridges areswollen carcasses of dead animals.’ 4 PrimaryTools.co.uk
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In the summer of 1858, thestench from theThames wassobad that Members of Parliament fled from theroomsoverlooking theriver.The PrimeMinister, Benjamin Disraeli, rushed from the debating chamber, handkerchief to nose. The press called thecrisis The Great Stink.Disraeli introduced to Parliament a Bill that gave Bazalgettethe authority to construct thesewers whichhe had designed; it wasrushedthrough within sixteen days andBazalgette beganwork immediately.
By 1874 Bazalgette had completed his ingenious scheme. He designed a grandsystem of drains and sewers to carry foul waterto newpumping stations and holding tanks, andnew embankments to make the rivercleaner.In all, he built 1,182 milesofsewers, four pumping stationsand twomajor water treatment works whichare still operating to this day.
Bazalgette did muchelse besides. He designed andcreated manyfamous London streets and several magnificent bridges across theRiver Thames, including TowerBridge, apresent day London landmark. In fact, Bazalgette created moreof London than anyone else beforeor since. But his greatest claim to fame is thesystem of sewers, whichbanished choleraforever and whichstill serve the capital city to this day.
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This is an extractfrom theautobiography of Hong Ying, whereshe writes abouther lifeasachild in China during the1960s. She lived with herfamily on thebanks of theRiver Yangtze.
Daughter of the River
My house wasonthe southern bank of theYangtze. By standingon theridgeinfront of my house,Icouldsee wherethe Yangtze and Jialong rivers meet.Anassortment of buildings on the surrounding hills looks likeajumble of children’s buildingblocks. Quaysdot the riverbanks, steamships tieupbetween the quays.Cable cars, dripping rust,crawl slowly up and down theslopes. Dark clouds blanket theriver at dawn, and at dusk, when the sun’s rays slant down on thewater before settlingbehindthe hills to the north,a fewburstsof sunlightemergefromthe dark mist. Forus, water wasprecious. Severalhundred familiesshared asingle tap. Queuingupwas onlypartofthe problem,for oncewater came, it wasusually a dirty yellow. If we went down to theriver to fetch water,ahardsweaty job at best,we had to treatitwithbleachto make it fitfor drinking or cooking, anditleftametallic taste. Except fortimes when therunning waterwas turned off, we fetched water from theriver onlyfor laundryortomop thefloors. Anyone who has neversufferedthe heat of this placecannot possiblyunderstand howitburns itsway from your heart and clogs up every poreonyourbody, to lie there bakingyourskin. Normally thereisnowind, butwhenthere is,it’s likeaddingcoal to afire. That wasinthe summer. Then when theYangtzebegan to rise the waterflowedfromthe higher reaches and hundreds of metres of riverbankwould be swallowedupovernight when theflood season arrived.
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Once theweather cooled off, theinconvenience of bathing increased. Hotwater was particularlyscarce,but sincewecouldn’t afford to go to thepublic baths,wesimply took fewer baths or no bathsatall. Thewinter cold wasas oppressive as the summerheat. Our housesweren’t heated andheating materialswere virtually non- existent.Sometimes we simply cocoonedourselves in quilts and lay in bed. At nightwebundledupinasmany clothesaswecould wear and climbed into bed, shiveringuntil morningwithfreezing hands and feet. Idon’t thinkthere wasawinter in my childhood when my handsweren’tcovered with chilblains that made my fingers look like carrots. Formybrother,the riverwas asourceoffood.Water from the snowypeaks kept theriver temperatureicy cold most of the year. Nevertheless,wheneverhesaw somethingthat even looked like food,hedived in after it:vegetableskins,leafy greens, even melon rinds. Oncehe had whatever it wasinhis grasp, he’d swim backto shoreand take it home,where mother wouldwashit, cutout the rottenparts, and throwitinthe wok. But he wasn’t always lucky. Most of thetime allthe riverofferedupwas muddy water and he’d return homeempty-handed.
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Over 2,000 years ago, theRomanshad sophisticated systemsfor waterand drainage in place.This was importantas the public baths weremore than justa place to keep clean,asDinahStarkey explains in this article from an educationalmagazine.
Bath times with the Romans
Something for everyone Marbleormurky water? In Romantimes, everyone, men and Thebaths ranged fromthe luxurious women, richand poor, visited the to the downright squalid.There public bathsthatcould be foundin were bathspanelled withmarble everytown. Thebaths played a andset with dazzling mosaics, and central part in people’sdaily lives. there were baths where fumes from Avisit to thebaths was theRoman the furnaceovercamethe bathers equivalentofatrip to thehealth andtoenail clippings floated in the club:it combinedaworkoutinthe murky water. In themoreup- gym andbeautytreatments witha market establishments,suchasthe chance to meet friendsand doabit bathsof Carcalla in Rome,there of networking. were dozens of columnsmade from marbleand imported stone. The floorsand walls gleamed with polishedmarble panellinginten different colours,the roof glittered withglassmosaicsand there were alcoves formorethanahundred statues.
Roman Baths
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Working up asweat Timetorelax TheRomansbegan bathingby Thosewho could afford it might also rubbingperfumed oilintotheir skin treat themselves toamassage or a andthenproceeded to exerciseto shave. Sometimes there wasalarge work upasweat,for exampleby poolwhere bathers could relax running, wrestlingorboxing. From before goinghome. There were even the exercise roombathers then snacks forsale: evidence hasbeen moved through into the tepidarium found that theRomansenjoyed such (the warm room)and fromthere into delicacies as cutlets, sausages,bread, the caldarium (thehot room)to really cakes, nutsand hog’s fat! sweat outthe dirt.Afterawhile, the bathers returnedtothe tepidarium for theserious business of getting clean by scrapingoff dirt and sweat witha curved metal strigil.Finally,some bathers could finishoff their session withabreathtakingplungeintothe icecold water of the frigidarium (the coldroom). Octagonal Frigidarium
No fun for the neighbours Seneca, the Roman philosopher, shows that it wasn’t so much fun to live near the baths. “I live right over a public baths. Just imagine the noise. I hear the grunting of the body builders. Then a ball player arrives and begins to count shots. Add the people who like to sing in the bathtub. And the people who jump into the pool with a deafening splash. On top of all this, don’t forget the professional hair remover, forever screeching as he advertises his services. He only shuts up when he starts work – and makes someone else do the yelping! Then there are the drink- sellers, the sausage-sellers and the cake-sellers, each with his own special call …”
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STA/12/5604 ISBN: 978-1-4459-5236-9 QCDA/12/5500 Acknowledgements The Great StinkAcknowledgements of London, adapted from The Great Stink of London: Sir Joseph Bazalgette The GreatThe Great Stink Stink of London: of London, Sir adaptedJoseph fromBazalgette and the Cleansing of the Victorian Metropolis and the Cleansing of the Victorian Metropolis by Stephen Halliday, by Stephen Halliday, published by Sutton Publishing Ltd (2001). published by Sutton Publishing Ltd (2001). Daughter of the river, adaptedDaughter from Daughter of the River, of the adapted River: An from Autobiography by Hong Ying, Daughter of thepublished River: byAn Bloomsbury Autobiography (1999). by Hong Ying, published by Bloomsbury (1999). This text has been incorporated into this test paper solely for the purposes of the examination This text inhas accordance been incorporated with Section in 32(3) the test of the paper Copyright, solely Designsfor the purposesand Patents of Act the 1988. examination in accordanceNo copyright with Section clearance 32(3) for ofany the other Copyright, use has beenDesigns obtained and Patentsor sought. Act 1988. No copyright clearance for any other use has been obtained or sought. © Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency 2011 © Crown copyright 2012
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