Old walls, like this one, fascinate me. This is actually part of an old railway bridge. Trains passing underneath might have taken troops, or supplies, on the first part of their journey to France in 1914. In contrast, we’re looking at this year’s new growth of ivy (the paler leaves.)
Those bricklayers knew how to build, all right. It just saddens me that they had to do that work for a pittance. But that is another story.
It's kind to share!
This is posted to join in with the meme hosted by Emma at Crazy With Twins. Other things got in the way yesterday so this is actually being posted on Thursday, the 21st!
Wondering what to post this week, I was just musing on the way that the repartee of the famous from times past often combines humour with historical interest. Here is an example:
The story goes that the playwright, George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950) once sent the great political figure, Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) two complimentary tickets for the first performance of one of his plays, inviting him by letter to come along and “bring a friend, if you have one.” Churchill wrote back explaining that he would be unable to attend on that particular evening, but stated that he would welcome tickets for a subsequent performance “if there is one…”
It’s rather ironic that I’m writing this last-minute post against a background of such disturbing national news which is the topic of a lot of debate and discussion. But how, indeed, does my photo relate to ‘birth’ as a topic?
Well, this built-in house name plaque is typical of property of that era, which remains common in many towns and cities in England. It could be argued that the date is a bit like the ‘birth’ date of a house. It might also be said that such properties would have been the place of birth for many – in the days when midwives went from house to house on a push-bike, in answer to messages left for them on notes pinned to the back doors of their own houses!
But here, the date is significant. Houses for working-class people were at last being built to comply with certain legally enforced conditions. In particular, each house now had to have its own toilet, and also a sink in the kitchen with water on tap! This resulted from the passing of the Public Health act (1875) and also the Artisans’ and Labourers’ Dwellings Improvement Act (1875) making that year very significant in what we might call the birth of housing reform. Of course, many more improvements such as bathrooms and hot water systems were still many years away. (And that telephone wire!)
If you feel inclined to study it, the socio-economic history of Britain is a fascinating subject, and certainly one to provoke deep thinking. Oh, and probably make us all feel not so badly-off, after all.
It's kind to share!
