Comments on: The Fogs Of Old London https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/01/14/the-fogs-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 Sun, 16 Jan 2022 18:29:37 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Robert Spano https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/01/14/the-fogs-of-old-london/#comment-1447079 Sun, 16 Jan 2022 18:29:37 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=190360#comment-1447079 Fascinating shots as ever Gentle Author, thanks for sharing. Fogs seem to be less common generally that they used to be even in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, long after the Clean Air Act banished smogs. The last lingering fog event in London that I recall was about 20 years ago. Weather experts will doubtless know better!

Just to note that the Church Row, Hampstead plate is reversed.

]]> By: John Cunningham https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/01/14/the-fogs-of-old-london/#comment-1446951 Fri, 14 Jan 2022 23:58:02 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=190360#comment-1446951 I grew up in the UK’s second city, Birmingham. A big memory for me of the 50s and 60s in Birmingham is of the smell of coal smoke during the winter months. We all had coal fires. Until burning coal was banned in the 70s we hadn’t realised what effect it had on our buildings as well as on our health. Throughout the 80s and 90s grubby black structures were revealed after cleaning to made of beautiful cream and and off white stone. I remember being amazed at the transformation of the central Post office from a gloomy gothic turreted structure to a glowing French Chateau. Several generations grew up in Birmingham believing that these impressive buildings were built in a grimy black colour. But despite its bad press I still find the smell of coal smoke to be very nostalgic.

]]> By: Bailey Jones https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/01/14/the-fogs-of-old-london/#comment-1446945 Fri, 14 Jan 2022 23:03:06 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=190360#comment-1446945 As I looked through these photos, I started humming this:
https://youtu.be/Jg66AV7T2So

]]> By: parktown https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/01/14/the-fogs-of-old-london/#comment-1446919 Fri, 14 Jan 2022 14:29:25 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=190360#comment-1446919 pea soup
Yes same for me in the early sixties walking across the common to school.
It had snowed. The ground was white. It was foggy. There was little or no vison. I was encased in fog and snow and could not see a lamp post, nor tree, nor rubbish bin. I just plodded on, walking until I cane to a dark landmark to guide my way. Lived to tell the tale. ?
Thanks for the pictures,

]]> By: Joanne Watson https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/01/14/the-fogs-of-old-london/#comment-1446913 Fri, 14 Jan 2022 12:33:32 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=190360#comment-1446913 Dear gentle author,
I received my book today thank you. It is beautiful and has made my day. The covid bug has caught up with me. I am a special educational needs coordinator so have been fortunate only to have caught it now. You have transported me to places I saw with my family this summer for the first time. We were lucky to visit in the hottest week and were able to walk ( for miles)around places not on the tourist lists. I can’t wait to be able to share it with my family but for now selfishly it is all mine!
Thank you again
Jo

]]> By: Ann V https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/01/14/the-fogs-of-old-london/#comment-1446910 Fri, 14 Jan 2022 11:37:15 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=190360#comment-1446910 These photos bring back memories. We lived just outside London, about 14 miles south west of Central London, very near to Heathrow, but I remember the fogs. In the 1960’s it wasn’t unusual for us to be sent home from school early because the fog was so bad.

]]> By: Annie S https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/01/14/the-fogs-of-old-london/#comment-1446904 Fri, 14 Jan 2022 10:53:45 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=190360#comment-1446904 Very atmospheric photographs!
…and to Paul who posted earlier…Yes, I know exactly what you mean! It was the same in Birmingham in the early days when I was at school – very weird in those fogs, not knowing exactly where you were.

]]> By: Robert Hradsky https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/01/14/the-fogs-of-old-london/#comment-1446902 Fri, 14 Jan 2022 10:28:15 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=190360#comment-1446902 The ‘Unidentified building, c 1910’ is the 16th century summerhouse of Prior Bolton at Alwyne Villas, Canonbury.

]]> By: paul loften https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/01/14/the-fogs-of-old-london/#comment-1446893 Fri, 14 Jan 2022 06:54:28 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=190360#comment-1446893 Thank you for the remarkable photos. You didn’t have to go back so long to recall the pea soup. I got caught in a few on my way home from school in the 1960’s and never knew if I was walking in the middle of the road or on the pavement . You heard a bus coming but couldn’t see it until the headlights broke through the fog .The river bank and the excavations must have been a deadly place . Good old London!

]]>