As Baroness d’Souza touches upon in her earlier post, the original Parliament buildings, other than Westminster Hall, were destroyed by fire in 1834. In their place, a new Palace of Westminster, designed by Charles Barry, was constructed. There remains a fire risk, but in the history of the Palace that has not been the only challenge. In the 19th Century, odour was a problem. This was notably so in the Great Stink of 1858. In that year, the drains of London could not cope and sewage drained into an increasingly contaminated Thames. The Palace of Westminster was badly affected: curtains were soaked in chloride of lime to suppress the stench. Questions were asked in the House. There was even thought of locating Parliament elsewhere, possibly in St Albans or Oxford.
For the period that Parliament has sat at Westminster, there has been an important relationship with the River Thames. Initially, being on the banks of the Thames facilitated the movement of people and goods. Various Acts have been passed that cover activities on the Thames as well as structures built on it. Parliament legislated in response to the Great Stink and conferred on the Metropolitan Board of Works responsibility for the purification of the Thames.
The relationshp between Parliament and the Thames is the subject of an exhibition presently being held in the Robing Room of the Lords, with material supplied by the excellent Parliamentary Archives.
I always associated the ‘Great Stink’ with the word ‘Miasma’ the theory that disease was caused by dreadful odours. For those with a strong constitution read Stephen Fry’s description below for a more evocative description of the foul events of 1858 and 2005.
Ref:
http://www.thameswater.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/SID-2804BB75-67A05869/corp/hs.xsl/6431.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-fry/the-great-stink-of-2005_b_6892.html
This is a great post, good to hear a little history.
As I don’t have much to say about this post, as good as it is, am hoping you’ll forgive a comment on Problems of the long recess.
Is it correct that the root problem with the long recess is inability to communicate?
Would most MPs and Peers to have access to the Internet during the recess (even via mobile phone)? If so, this is not a difficult issue to remedy, with the technology available. At no cost, other than the time it takes to set up a server, I might add.
A good example is this Web site. The software that powers Lords of the Blog was developed pro-bono, by a group of enthusiasts:
Everything you see here, from the documentation to the code itself, was created by and for the community. WordPress is an Open Source project, which means there are hundreds of people all over the world working on it.
It’s impossible to co-ordinate the development of complex software, by non-affiliated individuals, companies and organisations, all around the world, without very good communication tools. Many in the Open Source community describe it as being ‘like herding cats.’
So I saw that post, and wanted to make the humble suggestion that the problem may have alread been solved by someone else. Of course, if MPs/Peers cannot get to an Internet connection that’s a problem. But surely that would be preferable to calling everyone back to Westminster?
As I say, just a humble suggestion. Do ask if you would like any ideas of software Parliament could use, however.
Un conte triste de travail:
Jack drove to the supermarket and as he was leaving his car he noticed a rather dishevelled and distressed man heading his way. As the man drew closer there was a strange but familiar whiff coming from him.
Concerned, Jack asked him why he looked so upset. Glad that somebody cared the man related his misfortune. He had been a city trader but had now fallen on hard times.
Jack said: “You look quite healthy, how do you manage it”? Well! Said the man. The government has zero-rated VAT on all essential non-luxury items and it is these that I buy. But before I put an item in the trolley I have to enquire if it has VAT on it; my shopping takes hours.
Jack sympathetic but puzzled, felt compelled to ask him:
“So why do you smell of shit”?
They taxed the toilet rolls came the reply!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2VsNTk59exI