1.
River Thames
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The River Thames is a river that flows through southern England, most notably through London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and it also flows through Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary, the Thames drains the whole of Greater London. Its tidal section, reaching up to Teddington Lock, includes most of its London stretch and has a rise, in Scotland, the Tay achieves more than double the average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs and its catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and a small part of Western England and the river is fed by 38 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, in 2010, the Thames won the largest environmental award in the world – the $350,000 International Riverprize. The Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, Tamesas, recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys Thames. It has also suggested that it is not of Celtic origin. A place by the river, rather than the river itself, indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name Thames is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit. It is believed that Tamesubugus name was derived from that of the river, tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography. The rivers name has always pronounced with a simple t /t/, the Middle English spelling was typically Temese. A similar spelling from 1210, Tamisiam, is found in the Magna Carta, the Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis. Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as River Thames or Isis down to Dorchester, richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *lowonida. An alternative, and simpler proposal, is that London may also be a Germanic word, for merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just the London River. Londoners often refer to it simply as the river in such as south of the river. Thames Valley Police is a body that takes its name from the river. The marks of human activity, in cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain, are visible at various points along the river
2.
South Bank
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The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district of Central London, England, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow, unequal strip of land within the London Borough of Lambeth. As with most central London districts its edges evolve and are informally defined however its central area is bounded by Westminster Bridge, both the County Hall and the Shell Centre contain major residential parts. South Bank is 800 metres southeast of Charing Cross, the pedestrianised embankment is The Queens Walk which is part of the Albert Embankment built not only for public drainage but to raise the whole tract of land and prevent flooding. In 1951 the Festival of Britain redefined the area as a place for arts and it now forms a significant tourist district in central London, stretching from the Blackfriars Bridge in the east to Westminster Bridge in the west. A series of central London bridges connect the area to the bank of the Thames Golden Jubilee. During the Middle Ages this area developed as a place of entertainment outside the regulation of the City of London on the north bank. By the 18th century the more genteel entertainment of the gardens had developed. The shallow bank and mud flats were ideal locations for industry and docks, there was a shift in use when the London County Council required a new County Hall, which was built between 1917 and 1922 on the south bank near North Lambeths Lower Marsh. The construction of County Hall returned the first section of frontage to public use. This was extended eastwards in 1951 when the Festival of Britain caused a considerable area to be redeveloped and it was renamed South Bank as part of promoting the Festival. The South Bank stretches two miles along the southern bank of the River Thames. The western section is in the Bishops ward of the London Borough of Lambeth, there are significant amounts of public open space along the riverside. Between the London Studios and the Oxo Tower lies Bernie Spain Gardens, named after Bernadette Spain, the South Bank is a significant arts and entertainment district. The Southbank Centre comprises the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Royal National Theatre, the London IMAX super cinema and BFI Southbank adjoin to the east, but are not strictly part of the centre. County Hall is non-administrative and has converted into The London Marriott Hotel County Hall, Sea Life London Aquarium. It contains the Jubilee Gardens, home to the Udderbelly Festival for 15 weeks in the summer, the OXO Tower Wharf is towards the eastern end of South Bank, and houses Gallery@Oxo, shops and boutiques, and the OXO Tower Restaurant run by Harvey Nichols. The London Studios, the home of ITV faces the Thames
3.
London Borough of Southwark
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The London Borough of Southwark /ˈsʌðərk/ in south London, England forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London Government Act 1963, all districts of the area are within the London postal district. It is governed by Southwark London Borough Council, Dulwich is home to the Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Imperial War Museum is in Elephant and Castle. The area was first settled in the Roman period but the name Southwark dates from the 9th century, the London Borough of Southwark was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark, the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell, and the Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey. The borough borders the City of London and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to the north, the London Borough of Lambeth to the west, to the south are the London Borough of Bromley and the London Borough of Croydon. At the 2001 census Southwark had a population of 244,866, Southwark is ethnically 63% white, 16% black African and 8% black Caribbean. The area is the home of many Nigerian, Jamaican, South African, Polish, Tower Bridge, the Millennium Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Southwark Bridge and London Bridge all connect the City of London to the borough. The skyscraper Shard London Bridge is currently the tallest building in the EU, the Tate Modern art gallery, Shakespeares Globe Theatre, the Imperial War Museum and Borough Market are also within the borough. At one mile wide, Burgess Park is Southwarks largest green space, Southwark has many notable places of Christian worship, Anglican, Roman Catholic and independent non-conformist. These include Charles Spurgeons Metropolitan Tabernacle, Southwark Cathedral, St Georges Cathedral, Londons Norwegian Church and Finnish Church and the Swedish Seamens Church are all in Rotherhithe. St George the Martyr is the oldest church in Greater London dedicated to Englands Patron Saint, the other redundant church is Francis Bedfords in Trinity Church Square, now a recording studio, Henry Wood Hall. Whilst Christianity is the dominant religion of the borough, several religious minorities are also active, according to the 2001 Census, approximately 28% of Southwark identified as non-religious, or chose not to state their faith. Charles Dickens set several of his novels in the old borough where he lived as a young man, the site of The Tabard inn, the White Hart inn and the George Inn which survives. The rebuilt Globe Theatre and its exhibition on the Bankside remind us of the areas being the birthplace of classical theatre, there is also the remains of the Rose Theatre. In 2007 the Unicorn Theatre for Children was opened on Tooley Street with both the Southwark Playhouse and the Union Theatre having premises in Bermondsey Street, the Menier Chocolate Factory combines a theatre and exhibition space. The Bankside Gallery is the headquarters of the Royal Watercolour Society, the Golden Hinde replica is at St Mary Overie Dock and nearby are the remains of the medieval Winchester Palace which is a scheduled ancient monument. Peckham Library, designed by Will Alsop won the Stirling Prize for modern architecture, the museum was closed by Southwark council in 2008. MOCA, London, as curated by the artist Michael Petry, is a museum located in Peckham Rye dedicated to exposing and showcasing new cutting-edge artists
4.
Royal National Theatre
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The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdoms three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. Internationally, it is known as the National Theatre of Great Britain, from its foundation in 1963 until 1976, the company was based at the Old Vic theatre in Waterloo. The current building is located next to the Thames in the South Bank area of central London, in addition to performances at the National Theatre building, the National Theatre company tours productions at theatres across the United Kingdom. Since 1988, the theatre has been permitted to call itself the Royal National Theatre, the theatre presents a varied programme, including Shakespeare and other international classic drama, and new plays by contemporary playwrights. Each auditorium in the theatre can run up to three shows in repertoire, thus widening the number of plays which can be put on during any one season. In June 2009, the theatre began National Theatre Live, a programme of simulcasts of live productions to cinemas, first in the United Kingdom, the programme began with a production of Phèdre, starring Helen Mirren, which was screened live in 70 cinemas across the UK. NT Live productions have since been broadcast to over 1,000 venues in 35 countries around the world, the NT had an annual turnover of approximately £87 million in 2012–13, of which earned income made up 80%. Support from Arts Council England provided 20% of income, and the remaining 7% came from a mixture of companies, individuals, trusts, in 1847, a critic using the pseudonym Dramaticus published a pamphlet describing the parlous state of British theatre. Production of serious plays was restricted to the patent theatres, at the same time, there was a burgeoning theatre sector featuring a diet of low melodrama and musical burlesque, but critics described British theatre as driven by commercialism and a star system. There was a demand to commemorate serious theatre, with the Shakespeare Committee purchasing the playwrights birthplace for the nation demonstrating a recognition of the importance of serious drama, the following year saw more pamphlets on a demand for a National Theatre from London publisher Effingham William Wilson. The situation continued, with a renewed call every decade for a National Theatre, attention was aroused in 1879 when the Comédie-Française took a residency at the Gaiety Theatre, described in The Times as representing the highest aristocracy of the theatre. This still left the capital without a national theatre and this work was interrupted by World War I. The play was part of the campaign to build a National Theatre. Still, the Government tried to apply unacceptable conditions to save money, attempting to force the amalgamation of the publicly supported companies. In July 1962, with agreements reached, a board was set up to supervise construction. The National Theatre Company opened on 22 October 1963 with Hamlet, the current building was designed by architects Sir Denys Lasdun and Peter Softley and structural engineers Flint & Neill and contains three stages, which opened individually between 1976 and 1977. The construction work was carried out by Sir Robert McAlpine, the Company was to remain at the Old Vic until 1977, when construction of the Olivier was complete. The National Theatre building houses three separate auditoria, additionally, a temporary structure was added in April 2013 and closed in May 2016
5.
Tate Modern
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Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London. It is Britains national gallery of modern art and forms part of the Tate group. It is based in the former Bankside Power Station, in the Bankside area of the London Borough of Southwark, Tate holds the national collection of British art from 1900 to the present day and international modern and contemporary art. Tate Modern is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the world and it is directly across the river from St Pauls Cathedral. The power station closed in 1981, prior to redevelopment, the power station was a 200 m long, steel framed, brick clad building with a substantial central chimney standing 99 m. The structure was divided into three main areas each running east-west - the huge main turbine hall in the centre, with the boiler house to the north. For many years after closure Bankside Power station was at risk of being demolished by developers, many people campaigned for the building to be saved and put forward suggestions for possible new uses. An application to list the building was refused, in April 1994 the Tate Gallery announced that Bankside would be the home for the new Tate Modern. In July of the year, an international competition was launched to select an architect for the new gallery. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron of Herzog & de Meuron were announced as the architects in January 1995. The £134 million conversion to the Tate Modern started in June 1995, the most obvious external change was the two-story glass extension on one half of the roof. Much of the internal structure remained, including the cavernous main turbine hall. The history of the site as well as information about the conversion was the basis for a 2008 documentary Architects Herzog and de Meuron and this challenging conversion work was carried by Carillion. Tate Modern was opened by the Queen on 11 May 2000, Tate Modern received 5.25 million visitors in its first year. The previous year the three existing Tate galleries galleries had received 2.5 million visitors combined, Tate Modern had attracted more visitors than originally expected and plans to expand it had been in preparation since 2004. These plans focused on the south west of the building with the intention of providing 5, 000m2 of new display space, the southern third of the building was retained by the French power company EDF Energy as an electrical substation. In 2006, the released the western half of this holding and plans were made to replace the structure with a tower extension to the museum. The tower was to be built over the old oil storage tanks, structural, geotechnical, civil, and façade engineering and environmental consultancy was undertaken by Ramboll between 2008 and 2016
6.
Power station
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A power station, also referred to as a power plant or powerhouse and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Most power stations contain one or more generators, a machine that converts mechanical power into electrical power. The relative motion between a field and a conductor creates an electrical current. The energy source harnessed to turn the generator varies widely, most power stations in the world burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas to generate electricity. Others use nuclear power, but there is an use of cleaner renewable sources such as solar, wind, wave. There is some debate within utility and engineering circles over whether a solar array, or wind farm, should be referred to as a power station, in 1868 a hydro electric power station was designed and built by Lord Armstrong at Cragside, England. It used water from lakes on his estate to power Siemens dynamos, the electricity supplied power to lights, heating, produced hot water, ran an elevator as well as labor-saving devices and farm buildings. In the early 1870s Belgian inventor Zénobe Gramme invented a powerful enough to produce power on a commercial scale for industry. In the autumn of 1882, a central station providing public power was built in Godalming and it was proposed after the town failed to reach an agreement on the rate charged by the gas company, so the town council decided to use electricity. It used hydroelectric power that was used to street and household lighting, the system was not a commercial success and the town reverted to gas. In 1882 a the worlds first coal-fired public power station, the Edison Electric Light Station, was built in London, a Babcock & Wilcox boiler powered a 125-horsepower steam engine that drove a 27-ton generator. This supplied electricity to premises in the area that could be reached through the culverts of the viaduct without digging up the road, the customers included the City Temple and the Old Bailey. Another important customer was the Telegraph Office of the General Post Office, Johnson arranged for the supply cable to be run overhead, via Holborn Tavern and Newgate. In September 1882 in New York, the Pearl Street Station was established by Edison to provide lighting in the lower Manhattan Island area. The station ran until destroyed by fire in 1890, the station used reciprocating steam engines to turn direct-current generators. Because of the DC distribution, the area was small. The War of Currents eventually resolved in favor of AC distribution and utilization, DC systems with a service radius of a mile or so were necessarily smaller, less efficient of fuel consumption, and more labor-intensive to operate than much larger central AC generating stations. AC systems used a range of frequencies depending on the type of load, lighting load using higher frequencies
7.
Liebig's Extract of Meat Company
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Liebigs Extract of Meat Company was the producer of LEMCO brand Liebigs Extract of Meat and the originator of Oxo meat extracts and Oxo beef stock cubes. It was named after Baron Justus von Liebig, the 19th-century German organic chemist who developed and promoted a method for production of beef extract. In 1847, Justus von Liebig developed a concentrated beef extract in hopes of providing a cheap and nutritious meat substitute, Extractum carnis Liebig, however, in Europe meat was too expensive to economically supply the necessary raw materials to create the extract. Liebig made his process public, publishing the details in 1847, Liebig clearly stated of his process that the benefit of it should. Be placed at the command of as large a number of persons as possible by the extension of the manufacture, a variety of companies produced small batches of meat extract based on Liebigs ideas, often using his name on their products. In 1862, George Christian Giebert, a young Belgium railway engineer visiting Europe, convinced that the process could be industrialized, he wrote to Liebig to suggest opening a manufacturing plant in South America. He visited Max Joseph von Pettenkofers Royal Pharmacy in Munich, and Friedrich Mohrs laboratory in Koblenz, by the end of 1864,50,000 pounds of extract worth £12,000 had been exported and sold. In 1865, Giebert offered Liebig a directorship of the company, with a cash payment. The Liebig Extract of Meat Company was established on 4 December 1865 in London with a capital of £150,000, Liebig performed and supervised quality control testing on the product arriving to Europe, in Antwerp, and promoted it as the real Liebig extract of meat. By partnering with Liebig, Giebert was able to claim that he was the officially sanctioned producer of Liebigs meat extract, other companies also used the name Liebigs Extract of Meat to market meat extracts. Liebigs meat extract is a molasses-like black spread packaged in a white glass bottle. The ratio of meat to meat extract is generally reported to be about 30 to 1, the extract was originally promoted for its supposed curative powers and nutritional value as a cheap, nutritious alternative to real meat. As subsequent research brought its nutritional value into question, its convenience and flavourfulness were emphasized, the product enjoyed immense popularity and became a staple in middle-class European households. By the late 1860s, St. Thomas Hospital in London reportedly used 12,000 pots per year of the easily digestible substance, by 1875,500 tonnes of the extract were being produced at the Fray Bentos plant each year. It was recommended for soldiers during the American Civil War for its stability, ease of transport. It was still used by the Allied forces in World War II, European adventurer Sir Henry Morton Stanley valued it on his trip to Africa. It is still sold by Liebig Benelux, in 1873, Liebigs began producing tinned corned beef, which it sold under the label Fray Bentos. Fray Bentos was trademarked by Liebig in 1881 to market Fray Bentos Compressed Cooked Corned Beef, with the introduction of freezer units, the company was eventually able to produce and export frozen and chilled raw meat as well
8.
Refrigeration
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Refrigeration is a process of moving heat from one location to another in controlled conditions. The work of heat transport is driven by mechanical work. Refrigeration has many applications, including, but not limited to, household refrigerators, industrial freezers, cryogenics, heat pumps may use the heat output of the refrigeration process, and also may be designed to be reversible, but are otherwise similar to air conditioning units. Refrigeration has had a impact on industry, lifestyle, agriculture. The idea of preserving food dates back to at least the ancient Roman, however, mechanical refrigeration technology has rapidly evolved in the last century, from ice harvesting to temperature-controlled rail cars. Settlements were also developing in parts of the country, filled with new natural resources. These new settlement patterns sparked the building of cities which are able to thrive in areas that were otherwise thought to be inhospitable, such as Houston, Texas and Las Vegas. In most developed countries, cities are heavily dependent upon refrigeration in supermarkets, the increase in food sources has led to a larger concentration of agricultural sales coming from a smaller percentage of existing farms. Farms today have a larger output per person in comparison to the late 1800s. This has resulted in new food sources available to entire populations, the seasonal harvesting of snow and ice is an ancient practice estimated to have begun earlier than 1000 B. C. A Chinese collection of lyrics from this period known as the Shih king. However, little is known about the construction of these ice cellars or what the ice was used for. ”Historians have interpreted this to mean that the Jews used ice to cool beverages rather than to preserve food. Other ancient cultures such as the Greeks and the Romans dug large snow pits insulated with grass, chaff, like the Jews, the Greeks and Romans did not use ice and snow to preserve food, but primarily as a means to cool beverages. Slaves would moisten the outside of the jars and the resulting evaporation would cool the water, the ancient people of India used this same concept to produce ice. The Persians stored ice in a pit called a Yakhchal and may have been the first group of people to use storage to preserve food. In the Australian outback before a reliable electricity supply was available where the weather could be hot and dry and this consisted of a room with hessian curtains hanging from the ceiling soaked in water. The water would evaporate and thereby cool the hessian curtains and thereby the air circulating in the room and this would allow many perishables such as fruit, butter, and cured meats to be kept that would normally spoil in the heat. Before 1830, few Americans used ice to refrigerate foods due to a lack of ice-storehouses and iceboxes, as these two things became more widely available, individuals used axes and saws to harvest ice for their storehouses
9.
Art Deco
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Art Deco, sometimes simply referred to as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. It took its name, short for Arts Decorators, from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925 and it combined modernist styles with fine craftsmanship and rich materials. During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, Art Deco was a pastiche of many different styles, sometimes contradictory, united by a desire to be modern. It featured rare and expensive materials such as ebony and ivory, the Chrysler Building and other skyscrapers of New York were the most visible monuments of the new style. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, the became more subdued. New materials arrived, including chrome plating, stainless steel and plastic, a more sleek form of the style, called Streamline Moderne, appeared in the 1930s, it featured curving forms and smooth, polished surfaces. Art Deco became one of the first truly international architectural styles, with examples found in European cities, the style came to an end with the beginning of World War II. Deco was replaced as the dominant global style by the functional and unadorned styles of modernism. The term arts décoratifs was first used in France in 1858, in 1868, Le Figaro newspaper used the term art décoratifs with respect to objects for stage scenery created for the Théâtre de lOpéra. In 1875, furniture designers, textile, jewelry and glass designers and it took its present name of ENSAD in 1927. The term Art déco was then used in a 1966 newspaper article by Hillary Gelson in the Times, describing the different styles at the exhibit. Art Deco gained currency as a broadly applied stylistic label in 1968 when historian Bevis Hillier published the first major book on the style. Hillier noted that the term was already being used by art dealers and cites The Times, in 1971, Hillier organized an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which he details in his book about it, The World of Art Deco. The emergence of Art Deco was closely connected with the rise in status of decorative artists, the term arts décoratifs had been invented in 1875, giving the designers of furniture, textiles, and other decoration official status. The Société des artistes décorateurs, or SAD, was founded in 1901, a similar movement developed in Italy. The first international exhibition devoted entirely to the arts, the Esposizione international dArte decorative moderna, was held in Turin in 1902. Several new magazines devoted to decorative arts were founded in Paris, including Arts et décoration, Decorative arts sections were introduced into the annual salons of the Sociéte des artistes français, and later in the Salon dautomne. French nationalism also played a part in the resurgence of decorative arts, in 1911 the SAD proposed the holding of a major new international exposition of decorative arts in 1912
10.
Urban renewal
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Urban renewal, which is generally called urban regeneration, revitalization in the United States, is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures and its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of reconstruction. The process has had a impact on many urban landscapes. This process is carried out in rural areas, referred to as village renewal. In some cases, renewal may result in urban sprawl and less congestion when areas of cities receive freeways and expressways, Urban renewal has been seen by proponents as an economic engine and a reform mechanism, and by critics as a mechanism for control. It may enhance existing communities, and in some cases result in the demolition of neighborhoods, many cities link the revitalization of the central business district and gentrification of residential neighborhoods to earlier urban renewal programs. The agenda that emerged was a doctrine that assumed better housing conditions would reform its residents morally and economically. The first area to be targeted was the notorious slum called the Devils Acre near Westminster and this new movement was largely funded by George Peabody and the Peabody Trust and had a lasting impact on the urban character of Westminster. Slum clearance began with the Rochester Buildings, on the corner of Old Pye Street and Perkins Rent and they are one of the earliest large-scale philanthropic housing developments in London. The Rochester Buildings were sold to the Peabody Trust in 1877, angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts funded an experimental social housing estate, among the first of its kind, on the corner of Columbia Road and Old Pye Street. In 1869 the Peabody Trust built one of its first housing estates at Brewers Green, between Victoria Street and St. Jamess Park. What remained of the Devils Acre on the side of Victoria Street was cleared. In 1882, the Peabody Trust built the Abbey Orchard Estate on former marshland at the corner of Old Pye Street, like many of the social housing estates, the Abbey Orchard Estate was built following the square plan concept. Blocks of flats were built around a courtyard, creating a space within the estate functioning as recreation area. The courtyards were meant to create a community atmosphere and the blocks of flats were designed to allow sunlight into the courtyards, the blocks of flats were built using high-quality brickwork and included architectural features such as lettering, glazing, fixtures and fittings. The estates built in the area at the time were considered model dwellings and included shared laundry and sanitary facilities, innovative at the time, the design was subsequently repeated in numerous other housing estates in London. State intervention was first achieved with the passage of the Public Health Act of 1875 through Parliament, the Act focused on combating filthy urban living conditions that were the cause of disease outbreaks. It required all new construction to include running water and an internal drainage system
Media related to OXO Tower at Wikimedia Commons