The London Daily Newsletter Wednesday 18 January

On 18 January 1701, Frederick III of Brandenburg was crowned Frederick I, king of Prussia beginning the rise of the Prussian state. On 18 January 1871, on the 170th birthday of Prussia, it ceased to exist. Kaiser Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed the first emperor of Germany in the hall of mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The First Reich began after the Prussians had defeated France swiftly in a brief war.

Millwall
Millwall is the historic name for an area on the west of the Isle of Dogs.

Originally known as Marshwall, the area acquired its new name after its break with the parish of Poplar – Millwall was part of Poplar until the 19th century. The new name of Millwall was due to the large number of windmills built on the river wall in the 19th century. It became heavily industrialised, containing the workplaces and homes of a few thousand dockside and shipbuilding workers. Millwall F.C. was founded in the area during 1885 as Millwall Rovers. The team moved south of the river to New Cross in 1910. On 31 January 1858, the largest ship of that time, the SS Great Eastern, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was launched from Napier Yard. Due to the technical difficulties of the launch, this was the last ship of such a size to be built on the island. In the 1860s, the Millwall Dock was built, extending from the Thames into the centre of the Isle of Dogs. The spoil from the dock was left as the Mudchute. The postwar period saw the area become a focus of regeneration programmes on the former industrial land in Millwall. Like other parts of the Isle of Dogs, substantial redevelopment has been ongoing since the 1980s, resulting in modern buildings beginning to predominate over the remaining early 20th century “two up, two down” semi-detached and terraced homes that housed the dock workers. The area remains home to a number of council estates.

TUM Book Club: Tube Mapper Project
Photographer Luke Agbaimoni created the Tube Mapper project allowing him to be creative, fitting photography around his lifestyle and adding stations on his daily commute.

The Underground is the backbone of the city of London, a part of our identity. It’s a network of shared experiences and visual memories, and most Londoners and visitors to the city will at some point have an interaction with the London Underground tube and train network. Photographer Luke Agbaimoni gave up city-scape night photography after the birth of his first child, but creating the Tube Mapper project allowed him to continue being creative, fitting photography around his new lifestyle and adding stations on his daily commute. His memorable photographs consider such themes as symmetry, reflections, tunnels and escalators, as well as simply pointing out and appreciating the way the light falls on a platform in an evening sunset. This book reveals the London every commuter knows in a unique, vibrant and arresting style.

“London Bridge from the Old Swan” by the Irish painter Hubert Pugh (1780) Shooting the tidal rapids at old London Bridge was dangerous; many passengers preferred to get off at the Old Swan, and walk. Immediately across the river in the painting is St Saviour’s Church, now Southwark Cathedral.

Hubert Pugh (Bank of England Museum)

Video: Flying into LCY
A simulated flight into LCY courtesy of Google Earth Studio.