Suspicions about Dutch vengeance surfaced in the parliamentary inquiry. ibid.
Londoners were divided on the subject of immigration. ibid.
[Robert] Hubert’s confession was just what Londoners were expecting. ibid.
After four days of conflagration and violence the great Fire of London burnt itself out. It never reached the Tower because foreigners and their English neighbours made great personal sacrifices. But the battle to live in peace in London wasn’t over. ibid.
Hubert hadn’t even been in the city when the fire broke out. ibid.
Suspicions grew that there was a dark frightening world of dictators, drug lords, Russian gangsters, arms dealers and international bankers all thriving together in the shadows of the City of London. Adam Curtis, Can’t Get You Out of My Head VI Are We a Pigeon? Or Are We Dancer? ***** BBCiplayer 2021
In the early 1800s attitudes changed … London was at the very centre of the transatlantic slave trade. England’s enormous wealth was in part created by the trafficking of enslaved humans. Enslaved with Samuel L Jackson IV: Our People, Epix 2020
Bankrupt property tycoon Scot Young has died after reportedly falling on to railings outside a luxury flat in central London. Once Upon a Time in Londongrad I II III IV V VI: The Fourth Floor Window, Heidi Blake reporting, news, Sky Documentaries 2022
Scot had become the fixer if you wanted to hide a dubious trail of money. ibid. journalist
The same name started to show up multiple times and that was Boris Berezovsky. ibid.
London became heaven for Russian big money. ibid.
The Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky was found dead yesterday. ibid. BBC news
We began to map out the connection between these individuals and the Kremlin and the FSB … Ultimately, we were able to put 14 names on our list. ibid.
Alexander Perepilichny blew the whistle on a massive Russian government-linked fraud and he handed over evidence of Kremlin complicity in a huge money-laundering scandal. ibid.
One iconic London space: the Covent Garden piazza. Each year around 43 million people visit Covent Garden. The People’s Piazza: A History of Covent Garden, BBC 2022
If these stone could talk, what tales would they tell. ibid.
For much of the twentieth century, Covent Garden is Britain largest wholesale market, specialising in fruit, vegetables and flowers. It’s a working-class community living right in the centre of London and busy round the clock. ibid.
The fight against the developers is the final climactic battle fought by the community that emerged around the piazza. ibid.
In 1858 an extraordinary heatwave struck London. It was the hottest ever recorded and it caused one of the most shocking and disgusting events in the City’s history: the Great Stink. At that time thousand of gallons of human excrement, factory pollution and even dead animals were being dumped into the Thames every day. The Great Stink of 1858 I: Contagion
The crisis was so devastating it forced the government to undertake one of the greatest engineering projects in history – the London sewer system. ibid.
The waste and raw sewage of three million Londoners was being dumped in the Thames. ibid.
Chief engineer Joseph Bazalgette: He had an extraordinary ambitious plan to transform London’s sewer network. ibid.
4,000 Londoners a year were dying of diseases caused by sewage. ibid.
The biggest public works in British history. ibid.
I’m speaking from London. It is late afternoon and the people of London are preparing for the night. Everyone is anxious to get home before darkness falls, before our nightly visitors arrive. London Can Take It ***** short 1940
We haven’t had a quiet night now for more than five weeks. ibid.
The nightly siege of London has begun. The city is dressed for battle. Here they come. ibid.
They are fused together not by fear but by a surging spirit of courage the like of which the world has never known. ibid.
When I first came down to London from up north, I thought the streets were paved with gold. But as it turns out, they’re paved with kebabs. Alexei Sayle’s Stuff s3e5, BBC 1991
Bridges are at the heart of all our lives. They connect people and places. But they also change things for ever. I want to find out how London’s bridges changed Britain. Rob Bell, London’s Greatest Bridges I: Secrets of London Bridge, Channel 5 2021
I’m looking at the first bridge of them all. For over 1,700 years the only bridge in the city – London Bridge. ibid.
Until the 12th century when some descriptions of a truly spectacular bridge appear … It is covered in buildings … the churches. ibid.
The heads of enemies of the state were a feature of the bridge for nearly 400 years. ibid.
The houses came down, as did the shops and the businesses. ibid.
One of the designs came from an engineering legend, Thomas Telford … It is utterly spectacular … This single arch … This is stunning. So clean. So why wasn’t it built? ibid.
It becomes a tourist attraction on the other side of the ocean. ibid.
The most iconic bridge of them all: Tower Bridge … Why it became the bridge at the centre of the world. Rob Bell, London’s Greatest Bridges II: Tower Bridge: Gateway to London
What was at one time London’s port … One of the most multicultural corners of the world in the nineteenth century. ibid.
It was the design changes once Barry was on board that turned Jones’s concept into a workable bridge. ibid.
Peel back that masonry and the skeleton is made up of 11,000 tons of steel. ibid.
A bridge shrouded in dirty politics right from the start – Westminster bridge. Its history is entwined with the governance of Britain, its politicians and people. Because from its construction in the eighteenth century to its modern-day incarnation Westminster bridge’s story is one of argument, protest and sabotage. Rob Bell, London’s Greatest Bridges III: Westminster Bridge
For the first time in 500 years a new bridge was to be built in London … The bridge was finally completed in 1750. ibid.
What of the bridge that would replace it? And how would that define a new Victorian London? ibid.
Waterloo bridge, a bridge forged in a era of industrial triumph, and rebuilt in the darkest days of war. Rob Bell, London’s Greatest Bridges IV: Waterloo Bridge
In 1817 Reny’s masterpiece was finally finished. It was nearly a kilometre long and weighed 100,000 tons. It was the most expensive bridge ever built in Britain and hugely over budget.
In 1878 the bridge was nationalised for less than half its construction cost. ibid.
In 1946 a battered city that had lost over 30,000 people was asked to host the first post-war Olympics – London. London ’48: The Austerity Olympics, Channel 5 2024
Enter the right man at the right time. Enter Arthur Elvin. ibid.
‘Elvin was committed to making Wembley Stadium the greatest stadium in the world.’ ibid.
Elvin offered his stadium for a major cut of ticket, food and drink sales. ibid.
With food shortages to cope with, training was hard. ibid.
Newly independent India made its debut at the Olympics. ibid.
20 of the Indian contingent were elite hockey players. ibid.
Hundreds of volunteers ushered tens of thousands of spectators and athletes into the stadium. ibid.
[Fanny] Blankers-Koen did not fit the profile of a promising young athlete. ibid.
She went on to win an historic four golds. ibid.
News interviewer amid World War II London rubble: Mrs Jenkins, bombs have fallen here for the last three nights. How to you think we should respond to Herr Hitler?
Mrs Jenkins: Well we can’t take much more of this. I think we should surrender and the sooner the better. Big Train s2e6
… Well, there you have it. Despite the persistent bombing British resolve is as great as ever. And Her Majesty is clear: London can take it. ibid.