The Great Stink

About this excursion

£85 per person

Join us for a unique day that begins on Chancery Lane in the pub with possibly the best loos in all of London! Morning coffee and biscuits are included before we step outside to discover an extraordinary and timeless remnant of the old city where, away from the hubbub of the modern capital, the centuries fall away and we begin a marvellous morning telling the story of spending a penny. The remarkably efficient recycling culture of the 18th century fell apart when London’s population exploded in the 19th century and King Cholera arrived. With short walks and an interesting coach tour we explore the London of toshers, flushers, gongfermors and night soil men.

London’s landscape was shaped by its rivers but after centuries of serving the city they would become its deadliest problem. The sweet waters of the Tyburn were once drunk in the finest houses and the Fleet carried stone for the building of St Paul’s but as London began to grow the rivers suffered an ignoble fate. Mayfair housing developers, aware that the stink and filth of the Tyburn was putting off buyers, buried it beneath their new mews and although Wren optimistically remodelled the Fleet as a Venetian style canal the battle was lost and the rivers were buried. Bazalgette incorporated stretches of London’s lost rivers into his grand scheme but they can still be seen – if you know where to look.

Bazalgette’s Victorian sewerage system captured London’s waste before it ran into the River Thames and diverted it into massive new intercepting sewers built beneath new Embankments created by pushing the mighty Thames back with stone walls. Finding ourselves on Bazalgette’s Embankment with his massive intercepting sewer rushing beneath our feet we step aboard a Thames Pleasure Cruiser to take us to Greenwich. To make the most of our time today this is officially lunchtime we suggest a packed lunch will be most appropriate for you as no facilities are available on board. You can bring your own or we shall be offering some options for you nearer the time. At Greenwich the coach meets us to whisk us a just past Woolwich to the Thames Marshes and Sir Joseph Bazalgette’s Cathedral of Sewage. The new sewers delivered London’s waste here where it could be stored until high tide before being pumped back in to the river at high tide to flow away to the estuary. The whole system relied on three major pumping stations, only Crossness survives with its engines and pumps intact. Today it is a monument to Bazalgette’s genius. The Romanesque Beam Engine House is a Grade 1 Listed building and it contains some of the most spectacular ornamental Victorian cast ironwork to be found today and possibly the world’s largest remaining rotative beam engines.

Since the 1980s a dedicated team of volunteers has been painstakingly restoring this unique part of Britain’s industrial heritage and they are now ready for us to go and see how they have been getting on. There’s a social story here too – the work of handling London’s waste relied on the tides so the men had to live on site with their families. Terraced cottages and a school were built right above the massive sewage storage tank. Mesh at the cottage windows kept the flies at bay – it must have been like living in a meat safe – but my goodness they grew good tomatoes! A most illuminating and enjoyable day comes to a conclusion with tea and cake at Crossness (included) before we leave for home.

This unique day is not to be missed – no wellies will be needed!

The cost of this day includes luxury coach transport, the services of a knowledgeable Blue Badge Guide, all entry fees, boat trip, morning refreshments, tea with cake and, of course, treats. An optional packed lunch will be offered nearer the date of the event.

Book on this excursion