A hundred years ago this tranquil water would have been a filthy toxic brew; it would have been full of the foulest rubbish, industrial waste, effluent… it would have reeked. The air would have been full of smoke; smoke from the factories and hills, smoke from the trains transporting goods to and from the docks, smoke from every house in the area, coal fires were the only way to heat your home, heat your water, cook your food. As well as smoke there would have been poisonous vapours from the industrial processes which were taking place in this ‘modern city. Your ears would have been deafened by the machinery, the noise of the engines, the trundling of iron clad wheels over setts and cobbles, the ringing of clogs on the stones, the hundreds, no, thousands of horses hooves as the beasts hauled every sort of cart, wagon and coach; bells would have been ringing, sirens sounding, whistles blasting to signal the start, the stop, the go, danger…
How tranquil; the quay is now… the sound of engines as cars and buses and trams whizz by, the conversation of people strolling in the evening…
Lois Elsden 