London’s Other Rivers - South London

English: Vauxhall Bridge, London. View of the downstream side (north east) of the bridge from Millbank on the north bank of the Thames river. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The third instalment in this series of articles focussing on the past and present rivers of the city of London looks at two form the south bank of the Thames; one of which is still prominent along it’s course, the Wandle; the other now lost underground to development, the Effra.

Effra
The River Effra is arguably the best known of South London’s lost rivers due to a campaign by a group called the Effra Redevelopment Agency to unearth its course in the early 1990s. The source of its name is still disputed cannot be traced back in the history books beyond the mid 19th century when much ‘burying’ of the river took place. The course of the river runs underground through culverts as well as sewers which were constructed in the 19th century to utilise the natural contours and flows of the river as suburbs were developed upon it.

The primary route would have taken the river’s waters through the borough of Lambeth, from Upper Norwood (which would have been woods), through Crystal Palace, Dulwich, Herne Hill, Brixton (which was a small village before its urbanisation) and Kennington (where criminals were hanged on the adjacent common) before emptying into the Thames at Vauxhall (near Vauxhall Bridge). Its course can still be traced through sewers along much of this route but these sewers now take some of the flow across to South East London and into treatment works. One more obvious hint to the former course of the river is the naming of Effra Road in Brixton, under which the river still flows within the sewer. This stretch also provides one of the two access points to the former river, the other being under the crypts of St Luke’s Church in West Norwood.

In truth, the river would have been more like a collection of streams congregating (particularly around what’s now Herne Hill) before flowing into the River Thames and the primary course of the underground river is still fed by a number of tributaries coming from across south Lambeth, from the areas in and around the Dulwiches, the Norwoods and Crystal Palace.

Wandle
The River Wandle is the largest river flowing northwards through London into the Thames. Capturing water running off of the North Downs, the river flows for 9 miles from Wandle Park in Croydon, through districts such as Sutton, Merton and Wimbledon, arriving at the Thames at Wandsworth from which it is thought to take its name. Akin to many of the lost rivers in the capital, it has been heavily managed due the urbanisation of the areas through which it flows, ever since the first settlements of the Romans. In particular, the textiles and tobacco industries have flourished on its banks in later centuries by harnessing the energy of the river. As a consequence, certain stretches of the river have been re-routed or buried but much of the course still runs above the surface through south London.

Like most of London’s ancient rivers, the flows of the River Wandle would have weaved in and out of many streams feeding and being fed by the main artery as it found its way across what would have been wetlands. Until recently this characteristic was still apparent on the river’s course through Croydon as it split into a number of streams through the town, but the spreading of disease and a need for better sanitation demanded that these waterways be filled in.

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A Simple Guide to Legal Professions - Barristers & Attorneys

Inns of Court, London : 1. Lincoln's Inn, 2. Middle Temple, 3. Inner Temple, 4. Gray's Inn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having previously looked at the overarching definition of what constitutes a lawyer in the UK, and then the more specific definition of a solicitor with their particular responsibilities, the second instalment of this article focuses on the comparative definition of a barrister, with a further mention of the concept of attorney.

Barrister/Advocate
In contrast to solicitors, barristers in England and Wales, or the equivalent role of advocate in Scotland, have the responsibility of representing legal cases in court. Until the recent exception of solicitor advocates, they have had the particular privilege to appear in the higher courts where solicitors have not traditionally been allowed. They are rarely appointed directly by their client but instead by their client’s solicitor and cannot be enlisted to carry out litigation on a client’s behalf - that being the role of the solicitor. What’s more they only have the authority to act on their client’s behalf in advocacy when they receive instruction from the client or their solicitor and so do not possess the same powers of attorney as solicitors. In British courts barristers can usually be identified by their horse hair wigs and gown.

The collective term for the profession is the bar (a reference to the physical part of the courtroom they would have occupied) and so when a lawyer has the achieved the necessary qualifications and has the demonstrated that they have an advanced knowledge of case law they may be able to join the bar (i.e., become a barrister). The admission process is overseen by the four Inns of Court - The Honourable Societies of Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln’s Inn and Gray’s Inn - to one of which every barrister must belong. When the Inns invite qualified lawyers to join, the individuals are said to have been called to the bar. These ancient Inns of Court, all occupying distinct sites on the outskirts of the City of London, represent all members of the bar and, as such, are also responsible for their regulation.

Barristers are required to operate as lone entities and therefore cannot form the partnership firms that other lawyers do. Instead, they often locate themselves alongside fellow barristers so that they are able to share resources, such as administration assistance and physical infrastructure, and receive the economies of scale that would be available in partnerships despite being distinct operations. These collaborative set ups are called chambers and are often located within the confines of one of the Inns of Court.

Attorney
The term attorney is perhaps most familiar to many of us in the UK as an American term for a type of lawyer through exposure to it in US films and TV, however, in the UK it has a distinct alternative meaning. It describes anyone who is appointed to represent another individual in a legal context irrespective of whether they are legally trained. The authority invested in an attorney is referred to as the power of attorney (POA), a phrase which appears far more prevalently. The term originated from the title of the old English profession of a lawyer who would act in the common law court. This title was subsumed by that of a solicitor in the 19th century as so has only been retained in this very specific context. However, in some countries the original meaning has been retained and evolved, as is the case notably in the US where it now refers to lawyers who are able to represent the state during court proceedings.

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London’s Other Rivers - The Fleet

Blackfriars Bridge with St Paul's Cathedral behind (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The second part of this article introduces the largest of London’s lost rivers and one which can be considered to be integral to the growth and success of the ancient capital, the Fleet; a river which has been subsumed by the development of central London on the northern banks of the River Thames into which it would have emptied.

River Fleet
Perhaps also the best known of London’s lost rivers, the River Fleet has had a lasting impact on some of London’s most familiar areas and landmarks. As with it’s two cousins to the west, the Tyburn and the Westbourne, the Fleet would have risen from the higher ground of Hampstead where the two ponds of Hampstead and Highgate can still be seen today. On its course it would have flowed through the area we know as Kentish Town, Camden, King’s Cross and Farringdon, following the route of Farringdon Road and New Bridge Street to the site of Blackfriars Bridge.

The river has a rich and long history, from significant Roman settlements, including what is thought to be the oldest tidal mill in the world, to the numerous Anglo-Saxon wells that lined its banks (so much so that the river became known as the river of wells). It was on a bridge over the river near modern King’s Cross that Boudica is even meant to have finally met her end in battle.

However, subsequent centuries of industrial and urban development, due its proximity to the centre of London, led to a degradation in the areas along the river’s banks causing the waterway to become an open sewer. By the end of the 17th century the river had been converted into the New Canal in an attempt to revive it, but, as this failed, its southern reaches were gradually culverted in the mid 18th century due to a lack of use, before Blackfriars bridge was eventually built at the river’s old mouth. The middle section of the New Canal was superseded by the Regent’s Canal in the early 19th century and the uppermost stretches were covered in the late 19th by development of the Hampstead suburbs. Despite all this, the buried river can still be seen emptying into the Thames at Blackfriars and can even be heard through grates just off of Farringdon Road.

Just like many of London’s other lost rivers the Fleet’s presence can be traced back through place names which live on. Many of the streets in the vicinity carry a reference to the river itself or the wells and mills that would have existed along it; most notably of course, Fleet Street, the historical home of the newsprint industry, which approaches the old river valley from the west. The area of Holborn, also just to the west of the river is so named after the bourne (or one of its tributaries), with “Hol” being a derivation of either “old” or “hollow” referring to its valley. Meanwhile, Clerkenwell, on its eastern banks is a noticeable reference back to the river’s old wells. The name of the river itself refers to the Anglo-Saxon term for a tidal inlet, as it would have been, leading off from the tidal Thames.

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An Introduction to Quantitative Easing - When It’s Used

The Bank of England in Threadneedle Street, London. Deutsch: Sitz der Bank von England in der Londoner Threadneedle Street. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since the dawn of the financial crisis in 2008 - a crisis that continues to effect the health of our economy, and therefore the prosperity of each one of us today - there has been much discussion as to the best ways to minimise government debt whilst, at the same time, encouraging as much growth in the economy as possible. One tactic that has been used in a few countries including the UK and US is that of quantitative easing.

Typical Monetary Policy
A central bank’s primary and most effective tool when influencing or controlling the speed at which the economy is growing is the base interest rate. In the UK the central bank, the Bank of England (BoE), defines this rate as the rate at which they will lend to other banks. In short, by lowering this base rate, other banks are able to borrow at a lower rate and consequently offer lower interest rates in turn on both loans and savings accounts to their customers. These customers therefore have access to more affordable (due to the lower loan repayments) money with which to grow their businesses or to spend on goods and services. Meanwhile, the lower interest rates on savings accounts reduce these potential returns and so there are less incentives for customers to deposit their money as savings. All these factors make investment opportunities more attractive and spending more likely; thus increasing the flow of money through the economy.

When Quantitative Easing Is Used
This system works well as long as the base rate has room to be lowered. However, when it is too low to be reduced any further the central bank must look to other solutions to encourage further spending and investment. What’s more, when a base rate is lowered in response to a lack of liquidity and growth in the economy, there is a point at which banks can become more reluctant to lend. This is caused by the twin effects of lower yields for the bank on their loans, due to the tendency for the interest rates across the market to be lower, and the increased uncertainty surrounding whether individuals and businesses will be able to make their repayments. All of which reduces the money reaching invdividual’s and businesses and subsequently their spend and investment on goods and services within the economy, slowing down growth.

When the central bank encounters a situation such as this, as has been the case in a number of economies in the last few years, they can utilise a secondary tactic of quantitative easing. The basic principle behind quantitative easing is to introduce more money (i.e., more liquidity) into the economy to spur spending and growth, by using newly created money (colloquially referred to as ‘newly printed’ although in truth it is all done electronically). This new money is injected by the central bank when they purchase government bonds (i.e., government debt) from private companies, as explained further in the second installment of this article, with the aim of there being a trickle down effect throughout economic markets to other businesses and individuals.


Managing Growth
The level of spending in the economy can be intimated by the inflation rate - the percentage rate at which the value of goods and services are changing, usually increasing, in price. A high inflation rate reflects the fact that there is high demand for these goods and services within the economy, although the higher it becomes, the greater the chances of a rebound effect that then reduces demand and slows spending - high inflation means high prices and these prices can reduce the affordability of goods and/or money will start to lose its value (particularly in the case of hyperinflation such as was seen in Germany in the inter-war period). Therefore, countries tend to aim towards a stable rate of inflation which reflects growth with a sustainable momentum.

In the UK, a committee within the Bank of England called the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has the remit of attempting to maintain a stable rate of inflation at 2%. To that end the committee is responsible for a number of monetary policies. including setting the base interest rate and overseeing the BoE’s quantitative easing policy.

The second installment of this article looks at how quantitative works and achieves this aim.

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London’s Other Rivers - The West End

English: WORK 16/376; is an illustration, said to be from about 1680, of the permanent gallows at Tyburn, which stood where Marble Arch now stands. This necessitated a three-mile cart ride in public from Newgate prison to the gallows. Huge crowds collected on the way and followed the accused to Tyburn. They were used as the gallows for London offenders from the 16th century until 1759." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

London is one of the most famous river cities in the world with the River Thames being its lifeblood down the centuries and key to its success as the hub of the biggest empire ever seen. However, if you ask people to name any other rivers running through the UK’s capital they may struggle. Before being built upon, numerous rivers coursed the low lying wetlands that once occupied the site of the Thames basin where London’s modern metropolis stands. Many smaller tributaries have disappeared with the development of the city and a good few streams and rivers became buried in culverts and sewerage systems, with just a handful maintaining their presence above the surface. this article looks at some of the more notable.

Tyburn/Tybourne
One long lost river which has a lasting legacy in spawning a significant area of settlement, despite its small size, is the Tybourne, or Tyburn. This stream would have risen in South Hampstead and meandered down to the Thames, splitting into two (possibly even three) before reaching the great river. In the process it would have created an island, Thorney Island, where Westminster Abbey was built and the Palace of Westminster also now stands. On its route it would have flowed through what we would recognise as Hampstead, St John’s Wood, Regent’s Park, Marylebone, Mayfair, and Westminster. The area of Marylebone is one in particular that can trace its name back to the ancient stream, named as it is after the church of St Mary on the banks of the bourne.

Through West London the river would have passed along or near many of what are, these days, the capital’s most familiar streets and landmarks: passed Primrose HIll, through Regent’s Park itself, along Baker Street, across Oxford Street and Bond Street tube station, across Piccadilly, through Green Park, through St James’s park, passed the front of where Westbourne
The River Tyburn should not be confused with the Tyburn Brook which in turn is a tributary of the next lost river, the River Westbourne. This river would have run just to the west of the Tyburn, but, akin to its near neighbour would have also originated from the Hampstead hills. On its route to the Thames in Chelsea (in the grounds of the Royal Hospital), it would have passed through wetlands and meadows that are now some of the most exclusive residential districts in the world, including Knightsbridge and Belgravia. Earlier in its course, it would have flowed through Kilburn, where a number of its tributaries met, Maida Vale, Bayswater and then Hyde Park.

The river has one of the most obvious legacies in the names of the surrounding areas of the West End. It was once named the Kilburn (royal river), particularly upstream, and was referred to as Bayswater further down its length, hence the modern names of two of the districts on its banks. What’s more, the stretch that passed through Hyde Park had been known as the Serpentine River and an echo of it can still be seen in the ornamental lake that forms the Serpentine and Long Water in the modern Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park (created by damming the river in the 18th century). Even Knightsbridge takes its name from a long lost bridge over the Westbourne - a spot where Empress Matilda once confronted the capital’s citizens during the 12th century’s Anarchy. The river also lends its name to many nearby streets such as Westbourne Park and the adjacent tube station.

In the 15th century the rivers waters from Bayswater were diverted to provide clean water for the city of London, however, as the surrounding West End developed in the 18th and 19th centuries, the waters became unclean and were buried to form sewers and culverts under the new residences. The underground river’s course can still be seen in pipes running through Sloane Square tube station.

© Stuart Mitchell 2012
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