dg comments

please empty your brain below

re your photo point could it be like here internet filters have got better and thos of who read at work are now blocked from seeing the photos wheras I wasn't when you did the Westbourne?

On potential subjects how about visiting every non league football stadia within the M25? That would really cheeses off your overseas visitors!

peewit | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 7:10 a.m. | #

Great series

Ideas
Lost palaces of London.

Lost Abbeys, Priories,Monasteries.

Roman sites.

Boris bike sites are named as a "village" then as an "area" within that "village" then as a "location" ie street etc. Investigate.

Commemorative placques ie "blue placques". How many comedians,scientists,industralists, inventors.

Rick Berej | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 7:11 a.m. | #

I loved every bit of it - I'm just not much for pictures over text.

Chz | 01.12.10 - 8:00 a.m. | #

Charles Dickens is supposed to have ridden round London by horse drawn omnibus collecting the names of shopkeepers to use as character's names in his novels. Looking beyond the massed legions of Primark and Poundland - are there any interesting shop names belonging to interesting proprietors with interesting shop fronts and who sell interesting stuff. You might like to do this on a borough by borough basis.
Don't forget to pack your sandwiches.

Mwmbwls | 01.12.10 - 8:15 a.m. | #

I for one appreciated all the effort that you put into The lost Rivers of London, thank you.
How about a Lost Department Store Guide, Gammages, Gorringes, Bon Marche, Bourne and Hollingsworth, Swan and Edgar and Wollands to name but a few.

Fishislandskin | 01.12.10 - 8:16 a.m. | #

Roads named after Prime Ministers (or other category according to your interest). You could tell us how each borough has commemorated such personages (suitably illustrated) & then tell us where said PM actually lived. Could keep you going for years.....

B | 01.12.10 - 8:34 a.m. | #

It's actually been interesting, even for a non-Londoner like me. I like the idea above about old department stores, and would add old factories to the ideas pool (Price's Candles, Bryant and May matches - for example). But, as we all know, it's your blog, so you should and will do as you alone wish. And, in any case, I'm anticipating a new jam jar weekend shortly.

graybo | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 8:52 a.m. | #

How about old/obsolete administrative areas/boroughs of London, and their town halls?

JonnyB | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 9:11 a.m. | #

It's been a great series, with very interesting photos (and I think I've looked at every one). Well done.

Charles | 01.12.10 - 9:28 a.m. | #

Don't be down on yourself mate, I'm not much of one for looking at photos on articles such as these, but they've still been a really interesting and worthwhile read, nice one.

kev hennessy | 01.12.10 - 9:31 a.m. | #

I've really enjoyed the series - and one consequence of reading it has been that I now look out for previously unexplained dips in roads or valleys to locate possible lost rivers...

Dominic | 01.12.10 - 9:32 a.m. | #

I've thoroughly enjoyed this series, DG. It has almost spurred me on to writing up my wandering and researches of less well-lost waterways in Dagenham and Redbridge.

dtl | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 9:36 a.m. | #

Fantastic, enlightening series. I, for one, thank you for all the effort you've put into it. I was coming back to the blog in in the morning precisely because I was hoping there would be another lost rivers entry.

GB | 01.12.10 - 9:37 a.m. | #

Thanks so much for doing all this, it's been fascinating. Like others have said, I've loved the text, and clicked through to one or two pics that particularly intrigued me, but haven't looked methodically through them all. Somehow it's reassuring to know the pics are there even if not looked at -- maybe as it's proof you've really *been* there and so know what you're talking about, if that makes any sense.
Keep up the good work!

Pgd | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 10:14 a.m. | #

I've loved the series, too.

How about doing the A-Z of London? Visit the first street mentioned in the index under each letter.

Dave | 01.12.10 - 10:37 a.m. | #

I enjoyed reading them.

CNH | 01.12.10 - 10:56 a.m. | #

I have enjoyed and pored over every single one of them. Thanks to it I have been able to look at where I look and where I work (both have lost rivers 'flowing' through them) in a completely different way.... and I've looked at almost all the pictures.

Thank you DG.

As for next time. You'll have your own ideas. If I were doing something tho, I might look at sports grounds. They used to be fenced off fields round the back of high streets or local working men's clubs and have now become the mega-heart of billion pound businesses. Just a thought...

The Collective | 01.12.10 - 11:07 a.m. | #

I enjoyed it too. Thank you.

Brad | 01.12.10 - 11:09 a.m. | #

If it is any consolation, the next time I visit London I will be sure to point out the lost rivers to my wife.

And for peewit, this AFCW supporting overseas reader would love to read about non-league football ground; particularly Kingsmeadow.

gt | 01.12.10 - 11:11 a.m. | #

sterling effort! well done

roym | 01.12.10 - 11:17 a.m. | #

Great series, thanks. I've walked most of it too, but don't have a blog!

David Scott | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 11:24 a.m. | #

How about combining several ideas, and having a photo of a kitten on each street in the A-Z, or a kitten on each street named after a Prime Minister? Or photos of kittens by old tributaries of the Thames?

Debster | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 11:30 a.m. | #

Oh shut up, it was excellent, I`ve enjoyed it and I live 200 miles away and only visit The Smoke about once a year

[email protected] | 01.12.10 - 11:37 a.m. | #

I have appreciated this series on London's Lost Rivers. It has made interesting and informative reading.
Idea for a series next year, lost manufacturing in London.

John | 01.12.10 - 12:05 p.m. | #

I really enjoyed it too - but being the last remaining luddite in the world still on dial-up I don't look at photos that often :). And bloody Debster beat me to the kitten idea AGAIN. :) Kittens SELL. Get with the program.

Antipodean | 01.12.10 - 12:34 p.m. | #

There's an unassailable reason for doing this sort of thing, and that's that it's interesting - the only justification needed in my opinion.

How about a series on London's lost tramways or disused railway lines? Being linear, you could do them in a similar format to the rivers.

Siwi | 01.12.10 - 12:51 p.m. | #

Idea for next year:

The Combined Sewer Overflows of London.

Thames Water are currently consulting for their super-tunnel, which will intercept 20 or so overflow sewers.

It'd be great to see where they join Bazalgette's interceptors, where they run and where they empty into the river before they themselves are intercepted...

Richard G Brown | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 1:28 p.m. | #

Very much appreciate what you've been doing, in particular the research and photos - not to mention your doggedness.

A big thanks.

Brian Butterworth | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 2:04 p.m. | #

That looks like a huge undertaking there, my hat goes off to you for putting in the time for this project.
Really interesting, thank you.
As for the equally pointless task for next year, how about the top 10 public places in London people go to blog on their laptops hehe.

Jason | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 2:46 p.m. | #

Bravo, D.G.!

jon | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 2:47 p.m. | #

Well, I enjoyed every article. Great series, thanks

Peter | 01.12.10 - 2:58 p.m. | #

Really enjoyed the series but I don't always click on the photos.

Scott | 01.12.10 - 3:32 p.m. | #

Thoroughly enjoyed this series. I clicked on the photos in the text, but didn't go to the Flickr gallery as well.
Next year? How about Lost churches, destroyed in the Fire of 1666? Plague pits? Blitzed London? How areas of London got their names? The Roman Wall?
Whatever you do I know it'll be unique and informative.

CornishCockney | 01.12.10 - 3:39 p.m. | #

I'm a daily visitor and have enjoyed your lost rivers series (and everything else as well). Keep up the good work!

Could it be that stats are less reliable now with RSS feeds?

Martin | 01.12.10 - 3:55 p.m. | #

You are right that Twitter is no replacement for content, but you shouldn't resist using your account to regularly pull readers into your well written and frequently updated blog. People use it effectively as an RSS reader replacement.

| 01.12.10 - 3:56 p.m. | #

For next year...
Various trips up and down the routes of Roman roads and how Roman engineering still affects the city 2000 years later

Matt | 01.12.10 - 4:07 p.m. | #

You've inspired me to do a lost rivers of Bristol search. I'm a daily follower from afar but really appreciate the way you bring history to life.

bedminster | 01.12.10 - 4:11 p.m. | #

Town Halls... mmmmmmm

Sarah | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 4:18 p.m. | #

I enjoyed every word! And every photo!

Leuconoe | 01.12.10 - 5:23 p.m. | #

Excellent series and so much detail on what's under our feet. I like the pics but tend to read you on my phone while on the train, so while I can easily load a post it's much harder to browse pics so I look at some and promise myself I will come back and see the rest, I usually forget to tho.

Joe | 01.12.10 - 5:37 p.m. | #

The "dip in the road = lost river" equation has made me look at all roads for clues to the past.

Great Aunt Annie | 01.12.10 - 6:28 p.m. | #

'dribbling on'... I see what you did there!

I, for one, have enjoyed this topic and will visit a few of the locations when next in London.

Thanks!

Dave Ladner
Chicago, IL USA

Dave Ladner | 01.12.10 - 6:45 p.m. | #

Bloody enjoyable. Thanks.

Andrew C | 01.12.10 - 7:13 p.m. | #

Thanks for showing us parts of London in a new light... I now think of the Walbrook whenever I walk north over London Bridge and have had my curiosity satfied about some parts of London that I barely knew.

s | 01.12.10 - 7:14 p.m. | #

Not pointless, not stupid. Keep enlightenment alive despite National Curriculum. Can you check up again on some of the few remaining Real Caffs? I've tried a few again recently, quite busy. Quote the price of a big mug or Real Tea. And how about researching remaining London dialects e.g. differences between northeast and southeast talk (in pubs usually). Good winter exploration, maybe.

Herb of Romford | 01.12.10 - 7:20 p.m. | #

Oh no! I only found your blog thing today and it's over and it's absolutely one of my favourite subjects. My only consolation is that this looks as if it's going to keep me in reading for ages just to catch up.

Lots of great ideas in the comments and I really look forward to whatever it is you do next!

Alice Luxmoore | 01.12.10 - 8:01 p.m. | #

How about looking for London's lost causes, such as Arsenal still trying to win something.

Terry Ravenscroft | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 8:14 p.m. | #

Wonderful. Simply great. I look forwards to your project for 2011. And sod the majority...

Pete | 01.12.10 - 8:59 p.m. | #

Only just back from Lille in northern France , a town where the canals so important to its prosperity in the past were covered over, like many of London's lost rivers, and where there is talk of opening some of them them up again.
Looking forward to catching up now with your posts on the Tyburn.
All your lost river series have been fantastic and there are lots of us out here who , thanks to you, have learned to know London with an added dimension - what is beneath our feet. I can not walk certain streets without automatically noticing the way the streets "flow" , the watery names of the roads and I picture the scene as it was before the river was hidden - and all that because of your posts.
Keep going DG !
Elaine

| 01.12.10 - 9:01 p.m. | #

I haven't always clicked through to the photos, but I've very much enjoyed the river-blogging. Granted, as a novelist writing books set in historical London that have featured lost rivers more than once, I am probably not a very large demographic -- but I do exist! (And I would be right alongside you on that hypothetical walk, pointing out other things of random historical curiosity.)

Marie Brennan | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 9:50 p.m. | #

I have SO enjoyed this series. It's been absolutely fascinating to read about you tracking the rivers.

I've really appreciated the photos too, and your deductions, and - oh, just everything.

Thank you.

Jan Jones | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 10:38 p.m. | #

Actually, seeing as the kittens are unlikely to happen, how about going to the tops of unusual buildings for the view? Not the obvious things like the Monument, but there must be lots of great and untapped views out there. I was enjoying the view from Tower 42 of the Gherkin earlier on the Apprentice.

Debster | Homepage | 01.12.10 - 11:18 p.m. | #

45 years a north londoner, and this is the only blog I read daily. The Lost Rivers was a great series, balancing the historic facts with myth busting and enough info to follow in your tracks. Dont underestimate how informative these blogs are. Future projects? Personally I like the links to london history, underground or overground; ancient or relatively modern. Themes? Something around pub names? Roman connections? Villages? Londoners who have lived across the city? However, it is a challenge to meet the depth and breadth of your Lost Rivers series. Good Luck and Keep Posting.

TheTonyO | 01.12.10 - 11:35 p.m. | #

Awww, thanks for all your kind comments!

Some interesting ideas here too for next year. Some would be impossibly huge. Some I've already part done. Some would be genuinely tedious. Others might be damned fascinating. We'll see...

diamond geezer | Homepage | 02.12.10 - 12:27 a.m. | #

I've been reading for about 4 years now and the series about the Tyburn has been, without doubt, your best writing yet. And if what you say is truly the case, I'm glad it's a bit of a niche - it shows it's interesting! X Factor is mainstream and look how good that is.

Keep going, you've lots of appreciative readers, and if I ended up standing next to you in a bar, I'd buy you a drink as a note of thanks :)

Cheers DG.

Londonstuff | Homepage | 02.12.10 - 12:27 a.m. | #

Just to add further thanks and well dones to the many comments already here. Having read about these rivers countless times, and paddled in three of them, I still learnt plenty from your write-ups. Canals might be a good follow-up, especially the little-known ones way out west.

M@ | Homepage | 02.12.10 - 1:42 a.m. | #

I sure hope you have the time and energy to continue to explore your historic and interesting city. How nice to really know where you live.

I'm looking forward to your next series of Jam Jar London experiences. BTW I like that you include your pictures!!

A great accomplishment, and effort to be able to complete this! :D

kabinga | 02.12.10 - 1:57 a.m. | #

Just to echo the above: Excellent job, well done DG.
The first commenter has a good point, flickr.com is sadly now blocked at work for me, which may account for the stats.

How about publishing the whole set as a book? If you advertise it here you'll certainly get a few takers!
I'm sure you're up for the challenge of self publishing.

Jon Allen | Homepage | 02.12.10 - 4:13 a.m. | #

I am in agreement with Jon Allen about publishing books on your extensive research. You must have superhuman patience and endurance for such scholarship.

Rick Berej | Homepage | 02.12.10 - 7:14 a.m. | #

Apart from anything else, you've saved me from doing it. Sterling job, much appreciated.

Ham | Homepage | 02.12.10 - 7:25 a.m. | #

Oh, and also for the idea upthread of tracking sewer runs.... http://www.flushtracker.com/

Ham | Homepage | 02.12.10 - 7:30 a.m. | #

Yes, great job. In fact, I found your blog for the very reason that I was googling for lost rivers of London, and find much of it highly entertaining.

There are quite a few rivers not lost, but also quite hard to find. The one I know most about is the Norbury Brook, the higher reaches of the Graveney, which flows across a road near my childhood house in Thornton Heath. Always thought there was something wrong about where it actually crosses the road, and last time was down, in November, walked the streets focussing on the microcontours, thanks to your blog, and reckon I can see where part of its course ran before it was culverted.

I found that quite exciting, but perhaps I'm just weird.

pikelet | 04.12.10 - 12:34 a.m. | #

A fascinating series, DG.

How about putting your blog series into a series of books - with illustrations of course?

If you don't want to make money from them, some .pdf downloads would be nice.

Jakartass | Homepage | 04.12.10 - 10:42 a.m. | #

Cheers Jakartass.

I did create a .pdf download for my trip down the Westbourne. But so few people downloaded it that I haven't bothered creating any others.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 04.12.10 - 10:50 a.m. | #

Better than sewer runs, is UrbEx. You could see a few things that are not normally available.

Debster | Homepage | 04.12.10 - 11:33 a.m. | #

Thanks DG

It's not such a big download (434kb) and it's nice to have every post in one readable file, and in order.

It's something I've been thinking of for my (few) series of posts, so, once again, thanks for the inspiration.

J

Jakartass | Homepage | 04.12.10 - 11:42 a.m. | #

Another great post and you're always worth reading. I'm not a local, but reading your blog means I probably know more about London than most people born here. There's a spectacular amount of unseen history here that you have a fantastic habit of revealing.

Anyone with the tiniest bit of interest in London, I always recommend them to read you.

Hopefully you've been enjoying it as much as we have (I used to see a lot of London but your knowledge has enriched a lot of what I've seen). Keep at it.

As for obscure parts of London, most of us live in obscure parts of London. You can read about Trafalgar Square anywhere but Acton? ;)

Good work!

Scott :)

Scott Fannen | 04.12.10 - 10:30 p.m. | #

Awww, don't be sad.

I've really enjoyed your Lost Rivers posts (along with all your others).

Martin O'London | 05.12.10 - 6:05 p.m. | #

I only just found your blog and thus your articles on the Tyburn were the first I read. It's prompted me to read the rest of the 'lost rivers' series. Absolutely fascinating so far. Please do more similar series.

And I'd really love .pdfs of the various rivers, with photos (if partly because flickr is blocked at my workplace!) :)

Mark Turner | 06.12.10 - 1:04 p.m. | #

Dear Mr Geezer, you really are a diamond to provide us bloggees with this mammothly informative and entertaining series - I hope the sense of ennui apparent at the beginning of this post is just a momentary reaction to conclusion of one task without another in sight - can I echo earlier comments - don't judge the response to your 'lost rivers' saga solely by reducing flikr counts - you have set up a valuable resource for future reference - can I selfishly hope that you will continue to maintain all your 'back numbers' fully available under the current web hosting arrangements, best regards and thanks, John

John Blake | 07.12.10 - 8:39 p.m. | #

I'll add my voice to those thanking you for this great series -- loved every installment. I'll also second the very first commenter, who pointed out that flickr has been blocked at a lot of workplaces since you began. I can no longer pull up the photos when I'm reading at work -- only at home. As for another project for next year (apologies if others have suggested these; I didn't read all the comments; and if you've already DONE them -- I've been a reader for two years but have clearly missed a lot of past posts): lost palaces (someone did suggest this already -- great idea, I thought); Important London Film Locations; how about that long-promised series on disused Underground stations?; Wartime London; City Livery Companies -- buildings, history, etc.; family/trust estates -- e.g. Grosvenor, Harold de Walden, Portland.

Tom Moore | 12.12.10 - 9:37 p.m. | #

Wow - have just found your series on the lost rivers of London. I have a parallel interest in the lost canals of Birmingham - equally pointless but equally absorbing. At least yours expeditions follow a thread - all my hunts are for fragments.
I assume that you have a copy of Nicholas Barton's The Lost Rivers of London? A bit academic but very thorough. I have been struggling with it but I will re start it and walk my way through London using your posts to bring it to life.

Capt Ahab | Homepage | 12.12.12 - 4:33 p.m. | #

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