The thriving London entering 2016 has changed dramatically in recent decades,yet some of its greatest qualities have endured
As great Ben ushers in 2016, reflect on how the capital has changed. The man astride the statue in the photograph above is Illtyd Harrington, and a great servant of the London Labour Party who died during this year. The photograph was taken in 1977 to demonstrate a campaign by the London Evening News to smarten up a capital full of friction and discontent whose population was still in post-war decline.
The leer At Life film below takes us back even further,to 1959. It celebrates a River Thames yet to be stripped of its docks and the employment they created - a loss that riverside boroughs in the east of the city are still battling to recover from. Note the bullish pride taken in London’s international reach and flavour. That, unlike the docks, and has never died. The film is ten minutes long. It’s a delight.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com