Part 9

Steam-boat Piers.—If you wish to go eastward of London Bridge, on the north side of the river, you will find steam-boats at London Bridge to take you to Thames Tunnel Pier, Limehouse, Blackwall, and North Woolwich. On the south side, at the Surrey end of London Bridge, you can take boat for Rotherhithe, Commercial Docks, Greenwich, Charlton, and Woolwich. If you wish to go westward from London Bridge, on the north side, you can take boat thence for the following piers:—Bridge, Paul’s Wharf, Temple Stairs, Waterloo Bridge, Hungerford Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Millbank, Pimlico, Thames Bank, Chelsea, and Battersea; and on the south side, at Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Stairs, Vauxhall, Battersea Park, Wandsworth, Putney, Hammersmith Bridge, and Kew. The steamers make an amazing number of trips each way daily, between these several piers, at intervals varying with the season, and at fares ranging from one penny to fourpence. For example, the fare by the _Citizen_ boats from London Bridge to Westminster is 1d.; to Pimlico, 2d.; Chelsea and Battersea, 3d. If you wish to go _quickly_ from Westminster Bridge to London Bridge, you will avoid delays at piers by getting one of the penny boats which run every ten minutes from Westminster to London Bridge, only calling at Hungerford. Steamers for Kew, in the summer, run about every half-hour from London Bridge, calling at intermediate up-river piers—return ticket, 1s. From Cadogan Pier, Chelsea, you can go to Kew for 4d. And on Sundays and Mondays you can go up as far as Richmond, if the tide allow, at half-past 10 a.m. from Hungerford—return ticket, about 1s. 6d. For more distant journeys, such as to Erith, Gravesend, Sheerness, Southend, &c., by excursion steam-boats. To Gravesend and back, the fare is 1s. 6d.; Sheerness and Southend and back, 2s. 6d. Boats generally leave Hungerford Bridge for Gravesend and Erith every half-hour up to 12, and leave London Bridge at 2 and half-past 4 p.m.; they leave Hungerford Bridge for Southend and Sheerness at various times from half-past 8, calling at London Bridge, returning in the afternoon or early evening.

[Picture: The Thames Embankment]

The Thames Embankment is one of the noblest works in the metropolis. As long ago as 1666 Sir Christopher Wren advocated such a scheme. Till Mr. Bazalgette, the engineer to the Metropolitan Board of Works, (who, by the way, planned the main drainage,) came forward with his plans, there had been scores of others, all over-costly and few practicable. The work was virtually begun in 1862. Both south and north embankments are now open. The former (or _Albert Embankment_) was opened the entire length, from Westminster Bridge to Vauxhall, on the 1st September, 1869; the latter, (or _Victoria Embankment_,) from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars, in the middle of July, 1870. What the ultimate cost will be of both these gigantic works it is for us here impossible to tell. Already the metropolitan public hare paid for their new Thames boulevard £1,650,000.

And now—in the case of the northern embankment, for example—let us consider what vast difficulties have had to be surmounted. The words of an excellent authority put the matter very concisely as follows:—“The river had to be dammed out for some thirty-eight acres—the mud had to be dredged out down to the London clay—the granite walls had to be built below low-water mark; behind these the low-level sewer had to be constructed. Over this, again, had to come the subway, and behind all the District Railway, which runs at an average of about eighteen feet below the surface. It is not known what materials were required for the railway; but what was used for the Embankment is known. It was:—Granite, 650,000 cubic feet; brickwork, 80,000 cubic yards; concrete, 140,000 cubic yards; timber, (for cofferdam, &c.,) 500,000 cubic feet; caissons, (for ditto,) 2,500 tons; earth filling, 900,000 cubic feet; excavation, 144,000 cubic feet; York paving, 90,000 superficial feet; broken granite, 50,000 yards superficial. The railway works would make these totals still more formidable. London is now the metropolis of engineering works, but there is no part of it in which so many and such varied and difficult kinds centre as in the Thames Embankment. A section of it would be a study for engineers for all time.”

The public foot-way had been open since July, 1868. It was for the formal opening of the carriage-way that the Prince of Wales, on 13th July, 1870, drove from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars along the Northern Embankment’s carriage-way. This is sixty-four feet wide, and the foot-way on the land-side is sixteen feet wide, and that on the river-side is twenty feet wide. Along the river-side are planted rows of trees, which in a few years will afford an unbroken line of shade, doubtless. As the railway works were completed sufficiently to admit of it, this main roadway has been extended to the Mansion-House, by means of a new street—_Queen Victoria Street_—referred to in a former page. There is thus one broad, airy thoroughfare between the Houses of Parliament, and the West End, and the heart of the city.

It will be obvious that though so much has been done, much yet remains to be accomplished ere the Thames Northern Embankment is regularly completed. The carriage-way, for the present, has only been gravelled and macadamized. The reason is, that in newly-made rotten earth its sinking down must be allowed for, for some time, ere it can all be paved, like London Bridge, with “granite pitching.” Four regular approaches into the Strand—by way of Villiers, Norfolk, Surrey, and Arundel Streets—have been made; and there are three other ways which go from Westminster, Whitehall, and Blackfriars; another is in progress from Charing Cross.

Starting from the western end, the Metropolitan District Railway has already open, along this embankment, five stations, called Westminster, Charing Cross, Temple, Blackfriars, and Mansion House.

The wall of the Thames Northern Embankment just alluded to is, to quote once more, “constructed generally of brickwork faced with granite, and is carried down to a depth of 32½ feet below Trinity high-water mark, the foundation being of Portland cement concrete. The level of the roadway generally is four feet above Trinity high-water mark, except at the two extremities, where it rises to Westminster and Blackfriars Bridges to an extreme height of about 20 feet above high-water. The rising ground for both these approaches is retained by a granite faced wall, similar in character to the general Embankment wall.

“The face of the Embankment forms a graceful curve, having a plane face to about mean high-water level, and being ornamented above that level with mouldings, which are stopped at intervals of about seventy feet with plain blocks of granite, intended to carry lamp standards of cast-iron, and relieved on the river face by bronze lions’ heads carrying mooring rings. The uniform line of the Embankment is broken at intervals by massive piers of granite, flanking recesses for pontoons or landing stages for steamboats, and at other places by stairs projecting into the river, and intended as landing-piers for small craft. The steamboat piers occur at Westminster, Charing Cross, and Waterloo Bridges; and those for boats midway between Westminster and Charing Cross, and between Charing Cross and Waterloo Bridge; and both are combined opposite Essex Street. It is intended eventually to surmount the several blocks and pedestals with groups of statuary.”

FOOD SUPPLY; MARKETS; BAZAARS; SHOPS.

Food Supply.—The _Quarterly Review_, on one occasion, illustrated, in a whimsical way, the vastness of the system. The following is described as the supply of meat, poultry, bread, and beer, for one year:—72 miles of oxen, 10 abreast; 120 miles of sheep, do.; 7 miles of calves, do.; 9 miles of pigs, do.; 50 acres of poultry, close together; 20 miles of hares and rabbits, 100 abreast; a pyramid of loaves of bread, 600 feet square, and thrice the height of St. Paul’s; 1000 columns of hogsheads of beer, each 1 mile high.

Water and Coal Supply.—The _water_ used in the metropolis is chiefly supplied by the Thames, and by an artificial channel called the _New River_, which enters on the north side of the metropolis. The water is naturally good and soft. The spots at which it is raised from the Thames used to be within the bounds of the metropolis, at no great distance from the mouths of common sewers; but it is now obtained from parts of the river much higher up, and undergoes a very extensive filtration. Nine companies are concerned in the supply of water,—viz., the _New River_, _East London_, _Southwark and Vauxhall_, _West Middlesex_, _Lambeth_, _Chelsea_, _Grand Junction_, _Kent_, and _Hampstead Water Companies_. Some of the works, within the last few years, constructed by these companies, up the river, are very fine. Returns furnished to the Registrar-General by the London Water Companies shewed that the average daily supply of water for all purposes to the London population, during the month of May, 1870, was 107,540,811 gallons, of which it is estimated the supply for domestic purposes amounted to about 88,381,700 gallons, or 26 gallons per day per head of population. The metropolis is supplied with _coal_ principally from the neighbourhood of Newcastle, but partly also from certain inland counties; the import from the latter being by railway. Newcastle coal is preferred. It arrives in vessels devoted exclusively to the trade; and so many and so excessive are the duties and profits affecting the article, that a ton of coal, which can be purchased at Newcastle for 6s. or 7s., costs, to a consumer in London, from 22s. to 27s. The quantity of coal brought to London annually much exceeds 5,000,000 tons, of which considerably more than 2,000,000 come by railway. The wholesale dealings in this commodity are managed chiefly at the _Coal Exchange_, a remarkable building just opposite Billingsgate.

[Picture: Smithfield Market]

Markets.—London contains nearly 40 markets for cattle, meat, corn, coal, hay, vegetables, fish, and other principal articles of consumption. The meat-markets are of various kinds—one for live animals, others for carcases in bulk, and others for the retail of meat; some, also, are for pork, and others principally for fowls. The _New Cattle Market_, Copenhagen Fields, near Pentonville, built, in 1854, to replace old _Smithfield Market_, covers nearly 30 acres, and, with outbuildings, slaughterhouses, &c., cost the City Corporation about £400,000. It is the finest live stock market in the kingdom. The present _Smithfield Market_, near the Holborn Viaduct, for dead meat and poultry, is a splendid building, 625 feet long, 240 feet wide, and 30 feet high. Wide roads on its north, east, and west sides, accommodate its special traffic. A carriage road runs right through it from north to south, with spacious and well ventilating avenues radiating from it. There are in this market no less than 100,000 feet of available space. It has cost upwards of £180,000 already. There are underground communication with several railways, to bring in, right under the market, meat and poultry from the country, and meat from the slaughterhouses of the Copenhagen Fields Cattle Market. _Newgate Market_, as a market, no longer exists. _Leadenhall Market_ is a _depôt_ for meat and poultry. At Whitechapel there is a meat market also. The minor meat markets require no special note here. _Billingsgate_, the principal fish market of London, near the Custom House, was greatly extended and improved in 1849. It is well worth visiting any morning throughout the year, save Sunday, at five o’clock. Ladies, however, will not care to encounter its noise, bustle, and unsavoury odours. The fish arriving in steamers, smacks, and boats from the coast or more distant seas, are consigned to salesmen who, during the early market hours, deal extensively with the retail fishmongers from all parts of London. The inferior fish are bought by the costermongers, or street-dealers. When particular fish are in a prime state, or very scarce, there are wealthy persons who will pay enormously for the rarity; hence a struggle between the boats to reach the market early. At times, so many boats come laden with the same kind of fish as to produce a glut; and instead of being sold at a high price, as is usually the case, the fish are then retailed for a mere trifle. Fish is now brought largely to London by railway, from various ports on the east and south coasts. The yearly sale of fish at Billingsgate has been estimated at so high a sum as £2,000,000.

_Covent Garden Market_ (connected by Southampton Street with the Strand) is the great vegetable, fruit, and flower market. This spot, which is exceedingly central to the metropolis, was once the garden to the abbey and convent of Westminster: hence the name _Convent_ or _Covent_. At the suppression of the religious houses in Henry VIII.’s reign, it devolved to the Crown. Edward VI. gave it to the Duke of Somerset; on his attainder it was granted to the Earl of Bedford; and in the Russell family it has since remained. From a design of Inigo Jones, it was intended to have surrounded it with a colonnade; but the north and a part of the east sides only were completed. The fruit and vegetable markets were rebuilt in 1829–30. The west side is occupied by the parish church of St. Paul’s, noticeable for its massive roof and portico. Butler, author of _Hudibras_, lies in its graveyard, without a stone to mark the spot. In 1721, however, a cenotaph was erected in his honour in Westminster Abbey. The election of members to serve in Parliament for the city of Westminster was held in front of this church: the hustings for receiving the votes being temporary buildings. The south side is occupied by a row of brick dwellings. Within the square thus enclosed fruit and vegetables of the best quality are exposed for sale. A large paved space surrounding the interior square is occupied by the market-gardeners, who, as early as four or five in the morning, have carted the produce of their grounds, and wait to dispose of it to dealers in fruit and vegetables residing in different parts of London; any remainder is sold to persons who have standings in the market, and they retail it to such individuals as choose to attend to purchase in smaller quantities. Within this paved space rows of shops are conveniently arranged for the display of the choicest fruits of the season: the productions of the forcing-house, and the results of horticultural skill, appear in all their beauty. There are also conservatories, in which every beauty of the flower-garden may be obtained, from the rare exotic to the simplest native flower. The _Floral Hall_, close to Covent Garden Opera House, has an entrance from the north-east corner of the market, to which it is a sort of appendage as a Flower Market. Balls, concerts, &c., are occasionally given here. The _Farringdon_, _Borough_, _Portman_, _Spitalfields_, and other vegetable markets, are small imitations of that at Covent Garden.

The cultivation of vegetables in the open ground within ten miles surrounding London, has arrived at great perfection; and so certain is the demand, that the whole is regularly conveyed by land or water to the metropolis; insomuch that persons residing in the neighbourhood of those well-arranged gardens are really less readily accommodated than the inhabitants of the metropolis, and have no supply of vegetables but such as have already been sent to London, and thence back to retailers in their own locality. There are also large supplies of foreign fruit and vegetables. The annual produce of the garden-grounds cultivated to supply the London markets with fruit and vegetables has been estimated at the enormous weight of 360,000 tons, or 1,000 tons _per day_.

Corn.—The greater part of the _corn_ used for bread and other purposes in the metropolis is sold by corn-factors at the _Corn Exchange_, Mark Lane; but the corn itself is not taken to that place. Enormous quantities of flour are also brought in, ground at mills in the country and in foreign parts.

Malt liquors.—The _beer_ and _ale_ consumed in the metropolis is, of course, vast in quantity, though there are no means of determining the amount. If, by a letter of introduction, a stranger could obtain admission to Barclay & Perkins’s or Truman & Hanbury’s breweries, he would there see vessels and operations astonishing for their magnitude—bins that are filled with 2,000 quarters of malt every week; brewing-rooms nearly as large as Westminster Hall; fermenting vessels holding 1,500 barrels each; a beer-tank large enough to float an up-river steamer; vats containing 100,000 gallons each; and 60,000 casks, with 200 horses to convey them in drays to the taverns of the metropolis!

Shops and Bazaars.—The better-class London retail shops, for wealth, variety, and vast number, are among the greatest wonders of the place. They speak for themselves. The wholesale establishments with which New Cannon Street, Wood Street, and the south side of St. Paul’s Churchyard—noticeably the gigantic warehouses of Messrs. Cook & Co.—abound, if, by a letter of introduction, an order of admission can be obtained, would strike a stranger—in spite of less external display, save as regards size—as more wonderful still, so enormous is the amount of their business operations, and of capital incoming and outgoing.

There are about 7,400 streets, lanes, rows, &c., in the metropolis. From Charing Cross, within a six miles radius, there are something over 2,600 miles of streets. As regards trades generally, it is hard even to get anything like an approximate notion of their numbers. As the _Post Office London Directory_ says, new trades are being added to the list every year. Thus, we are told, 57 new trades were so added in the year 1870. But to specify a few, there are, say, about 130,000 shopkeepers, or owners of commercial establishments, who carry on more than 2,500 different trades. Loss of much of London’s shipping trade, &c., has indeed driven hundreds of emigrants of late from our east-end waterside neighbourhoods. But London has gone on growing all the same, and trade with it. Among these trades are, without counting purely wholesale dealers, about 2,847 grocers and tea dealers, 2,087 butchers, 2,461 bakers, 1,508 dairymen, &c., 2,370 greengrocers and fruiterers, more than 595 retail fishmongers, 891 cheesemongers, (this computation does not include the small shops in poor neighbourhoods which sell almost everything,) 2,755 tailors, (not including about 500 old-clothesmen, wardrobe-dealers, &c.,) about 3,347 bootmakers, about 450 hatters, and so forth. All these are master tradesmen or shopkeepers, irrespective of workmen, foremen, shopmen, clerks, porters, apprentices, and families. We may add, that in the pages of that very large book the _London Post Office Directory_, no less than 52 columns and over are occupied by the long list of London publicans.

The principal Bazaars of London are the _Soho_, _London Crystal Palace_, (Oxford Street,) and _Baker Street_ bazaars, to which should be added the _Burlington Arcade_, Piccadilly, and the _Lowther Arcade_, (famous for cheap toys,) in the Strand. The once celebrated _Pantheon_, in Oxford Street, is now a wine merchant’s stores. Many small bazaars exist.

The Bazaar system of oriental countries, in which all the dealers in one kind of commodity are met with in one place, is not observable in London; yet a stranger may usefully bear in mind that, probably for the convenience both of buyers and sellers, an approach to the system is made. For instance, _coachmakers_ congregate in considerable number in Long Acre and Great Queen Street; _watchmakers_ and _jewellers_, in Clerkenwell; _tanners_ and _leather-dressers_, in Bermondsey; _bird_ and _bird-cage sellers_, in Seven Dials; _statuaries_, in the Euston Road; _sugar-refiners_, in and near Whitechapel; _furniture-dealers_, in Tottenham Court Road; _hat-makers_, in Bermondsey and Southwark; _dentists_, about St. Martin’s Lane; &c. There is one bazaar, if so we may term it, of a very remarkable character—namely, _Paternoster Row_. This street is a continuation of Cheapside, but is not used much as a thoroughfare, though it communicates by transverse alleys or courts with St. Paul’s Churchyard, and, at its western extremity, by means of Ave-Maria Lane, leads into Ludgate Hill. Paternoster Row, or ‘the Row,’ as it is familiarly termed, is a dull street, only wide enough at certain points to permit two vehicles to pass each other, with a narrow pavement on each side. The houses are tall and sombre in their aspect, and the shops below have a dead look, in comparison with those in the more animated streets. But the deadness is all on the outside. For a considerable period this street has been the head-quarters of booksellers and publishers, who, till the present day, continue in such numbers as to leave little room for other tradesmen—transacting business in the book-trade to a prodigious amount. At the western extremity of Paternoster Row a passage leads from Amen Corner to Stationers’ Hall Court, in which is situated Stationers’ Hall, and also several publishing-houses.

Mudie’s Library.—While on the subject of books, we may remind the visitor that the most remarkable _lending library_ in the world is situated in London. _Mudie’s_, at the corner of New Oxford Street and Museum Street, affords a striking example of what the energy of one man can accomplish. At this vast establishment the volumes are reckoned by hundreds of thousands; and the circulation of them, on easy terms, extends to every part of the kingdom. The chief portion of the building is a lofty central gallery, of considerable beauty.

CLUBS; HOTELS; INNS; CHOP-HOUSES; TAVERNS; COFFEE-HOUSES; COFFEE-SHOPS.