In 1858 the 'Great Stink of London' made much of the city along the Thames uninhabitable. Between 1848 and 1854 nearly 25,000 Londoners died of cholera, a disease borne by foul water. Joseph Bazalgette saved the city, building sewers that would serve 4 million people and stop waste water emptying into the Thames. These sewers are still the backbone of London's sewerage system today, but the city's population is now approaching 10 million; the old sewers can't cope and acti...

Britain's rail privatisation was one of the greatest political failures of recent history. A well-functioning industry was torn apart to satisfy political dogma and privatised in a way that not only compromised safety and wrecked performance but also resulted in financial melt-down.In this acclaimed book, an update to his earlier work Broken Rails, Christian Wolmar reveals the causes of the collapse of the railway system, following the Hatfield accident, barely five years after Joh...

The find of a lifetime starts with obtaining search permission or legally avoiding that obligation.Where can you legally search without permission? How do you find the landowner to ask for search permission? How do you persuade the landowner to give their permission? These are the questions on the lips of many participants in the hobby, be they beginner or old hand.In this groundbreaking best seller, expert metal detectorist, treasure hunter and internationally acclaimed au...

British industry at the start of the New Elizabethan Age was a world leader. The first - British - jet airliner was taking to the skies, the first nuclear power station was under construction at Calder Hall and British firms were pioneering the computer. Our shipyards reigned almost supreme, and from Britain's factories came cars, lorries, buses, heavy machinery, aircraft and locomotives, exported all over the world. Sixty years on, many of these industries and millions of jobs have disapp...

From the introduction...I don't suppose I'm the only person who has always dreamed of owning a piece of land on which I can build myself an affordable eco-house and grow my own food and fuel. In my fantasy the land is big enough to support several households, inhabited by all my favourite people, so we can share the joys and the chores in our own little eco-community.The reason this is difficult to achieve in the UK is the vast disparity between the price of agricultural land (£4,000 - £10,00...

The story of an engineering marvel of the twenty-first century, from Britain's bestselling railway writer.Crossrail, first conceived just after the Second World War in the era of Attlee and Churchill, has cost more than £15bn and is expected to serve 200 million passengers annually. From Reading and Heathrow in the west, the Elizabeth line will extend to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, including 42 kilometres of new tunnels dug under central London.Th...

The A-Z of Careers and Jobs is a comprehensive guide to over 300 different jobs including the personal qualities and skills needed for each career, the necessary training and qualifications and contact details for relevant organizations. For anyone looking at starting their career, or changing jobs, the A-Z of Careers and Jobs is a goldmine of highly relevant data on today's career opportunities. Looking at over 300 occupations, the book not only tells you about the jobs available but also de...

This is a record of all the work put in over many years by Princes Risborough Town Council to provide a new burial ground, the Stratton Memorial Garden. It describes the long search and the problems encountered trying to find a suitable site.After a number of abortive attempts, and, having resorted to an elimination survey of every field in the parish, a beautiful site was generously offered to the Council if the problems associated with it could be overcome.After soil testin...

Anyone interested in the real London needs to read this. - Andrew MarrNo city can survive without water, and lots of it. Today we take the stuff for granted: turn a tap and it gushes out. But it wasn't always so. For centuries London, one of the largest and richest cities in the world, struggled to supply its citizens with reliable, clean water. The Mercenary River tells the story of that struggle from the...

Many of London's original power stations have either been demolished, converted for other use, or stand derelict awaiting redevelopment that is seemingly always just out of reach. However, in their prime these mighty 'cathedrals of power' played a vital role in London's journey towards becoming the world's most important city. Gasworks also played a key role, built in the Victorian era to manufacture gas for industry and the people, before later falling out of favour once ...

Having written for a decade and a half on the renewable energy revolution, seasoned journalist Todd Westbrook here provides a potted history of Scottish wind power in the past, the present and the future an its potential to revolutionise power production across the world. Revolution takes readers on a fascinating journey from the industry's origins in the 1950s to contemporary developments, at the same time providing insight from industry experts and dispelling some of the common myths and...

"David's superb book looks at the defiant renaissance of such heritage railways . . . in contrast to Beeching's vision of a streamlined railway network." —Books MonthlyWhen a 35 mile stretch of the former Waverley route from Edinburgh to Carlisle reopened on 6 September 2015, it became the most significant reopening of any UK railway since the infamous Beeching Report, "The Reshaping of British Railways," was published in March 1963.In his report, Dr. Richa...