Comments on: The Fogs & Smogs of Old London https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/11/30/the-fogs-smogs-of-old-london/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Wed, 14 Oct 2020 22:18:33 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Colin michael Hose https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/11/30/the-fogs-smogs-of-old-london/#comment-1355147 Wed, 14 Oct 2020 22:18:33 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=75701#comment-1355147 looking for an old photo of Mann Street and Boyson Road, can you help?

]]> By: Alex Prior https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/11/30/the-fogs-smogs-of-old-london/#comment-1038816 Fri, 16 Oct 2015 15:16:13 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=75701#comment-1038816 Great photos – isn’t the ‘view looking north across the city’ pic in reverse though? I think that’s the Fishmongers’ Hall in the foreground, which means the bridge should be to the right.

The Wellclose Square one is the same building on the Lost London book I think, which makes for a particularly depressing read of London’s lost treasures.

]]> By: Carole E. Drew https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/11/30/the-fogs-smogs-of-old-london/#comment-971044 Sat, 13 Jun 2015 16:47:05 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=75701#comment-971044 Just wondering if you know where ‘the Wall’ was? It was a place kids used to go. Quote: Have you been over The Wall? It was somewhere that echoed – and was a bit scary – for girls! Circa 1910. Any idea/image would be wonderful…(En route Chingford from Stepney).

]]> By: valerie-Jael https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/11/30/the-fogs-smogs-of-old-london/#comment-174014 Sat, 14 Sep 2013 07:28:20 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=75701#comment-174014 Love these evocative, misty photos, which remind me of my childhood and youth in London. Valerie

]]> By: Mary Gilmartin https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/11/30/the-fogs-smogs-of-old-london/#comment-75335 Fri, 30 Nov 2012 22:13:36 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=75701#comment-75335 I always learn something new when I visit your “Spitalfields Life”. PS: I wonder if the apparitions are the Lantern Men still walking the streets.

]]> By: Greg Tingey https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/11/30/the-fogs-smogs-of-old-london/#comment-75313 Fri, 30 Nov 2012 16:58:31 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=75701#comment-75313 In answer to your question ..Yes(1), Yes(2) & Yes(3) …
(1):Certainly any time much before 1930, the film would only have been “orthochromatic”, not “panchromatic”, which gave different tones, compared to more modern B&W films.
(2): Again, any time much before 1920 (?) Lenses wouild not have been “coated” to cut down on internal reflection inside the lens’, which certainly made images hazier.
BUT
(3) It really WAS much foggier then, especially in the winter months, as those of us old enough to remember can well recall.
HERE:
http://www.hastingsdiesels.co.uk/history/
is a photo taken in February 1957 – modern type of B&W film & clearly a good camera, since the image is sharp & clear – but look at the backgound “air”!
Yes, it really was like that – the last really bad smog of 1955 was so bad that at mid-day, you could not see the other side of our street, 6 metres away, & the air was yellow-brown.

]]> By: Peter Holford https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/11/30/the-fogs-smogs-of-old-london/#comment-75311 Fri, 30 Nov 2012 16:42:50 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=75701#comment-75311 “The closer I examine these images, the more I wonder whether the fog is, in some cases, an apparition called forth by the photographic process itself – the result of a smeary lens or grime on the glass plate, or simply an accident of exposure.”

Yes, indeed! These are great and evocative photos again but they give a very false impression of what the real London smogs were like. These photos show gentle mists. The true pea-soupers were on a different scale. I grew up with them, living near the Thames at Putney. Those were the days when you couldn’t see the houses on the other side of the street or you walked past your own house while guiding yourself by the kerb to make sure you were going in a straight line. Perhaps there are no photos of those extreme smogs because they wouldn’t have made very good snaps!

]]> By: Tom Shevada https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/11/30/the-fogs-smogs-of-old-london/#comment-75306 Fri, 30 Nov 2012 15:22:22 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=75701#comment-75306 I don’t know how you do it, but everyday is a new experience. I look forward to seeing your work daily. Have you ever done anything in regards to Masonic activities or buildings of old?

]]> By: Ana https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/11/30/the-fogs-smogs-of-old-london/#comment-75304 Fri, 30 Nov 2012 14:38:04 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=75701#comment-75304 Despite their age these photographs maintain an alternate reality, to the point where the viewer feels like stepping through the mists.
I had no idea that the Tower had a moat, let alone being filled. I have to say that my favourite is Bangor St. It’s a gritty photograph that has a lot to say about the socioeconomic undercurrent.

]]> By: Margaret https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/11/30/the-fogs-smogs-of-old-london/#comment-75297 Fri, 30 Nov 2012 13:31:01 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=75701#comment-75297 I remember the fogs of the 1950s, when I was a schoolchild. Part of me wanted the adventure of being lost in the fog – because in those days, even at 8 years old, I was doing a longish journey on the tube all by myself, and there was time enough to be lost and home in time for tea. It’s the throat-catching smell I remember, and the yellowish quality of the fog. It might have beeen dirty and dangerous, but I found it thrilling.

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